


Balancing the Equation

by cosmosatyrus



Series: Victor, Victor [2]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Attempted Rape, Light BDSM, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-03
Updated: 2010-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-27 09:25:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmosatyrus/pseuds/cosmosatyrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Chekov does not giggle, which is a good thing when showering in the locker room with Sulu.</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. Adaptation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chekov does not giggle, which is a good thing when showering in the locker room with Sulu.

_****_Five months into their voyage, Pavel A. Chekov had gone from the young virgin boy-genius navigator to the sufficiently sexed-up young man genius navigator living with his pilot boyfriend with whom he wanted to spend a very long time. They didn't say the "M" word yet, it was too soon, but he suspected Mrs. Sulu was already making plans. It was all very, very fast.

They'd gone maximum-warp into this relationship and Chekov found that he simply couldn't help it. The pull of the Hikaru singularity was too great and linked somehow with his own gravity. They were an inextricable set of equations, one balancing the other, tied in so closely that they must coexist or fall apart. All of this swirled around in his mind as he ran through the corridors of the Enterprise, tied in with star charts dotted with systems never before seen with human eyes. He'd calculated the gravity fields for each sun, each planet, moon, comet, as they were encountered and he knew them almost as well as he knew the body of his lover. He'd mapped that, too. There was a thin scar on his left shoulder from a fencing accident, a birthmark on his right ankle that looked like a dirty spot that never washed off, and callouses on his left palm from fencing.

He ran until he couldn't think, until his legs felt heavy and past the point when muscles burned and ached. This mind so busy, so occupied with the details of everything needed this catharsis. When things got too complicated or simply overwhelmed him, he ran. Running was easy. Running was simple. He ran to his, no, _their_ room where, as usual, he found a glass of water and two electrolyte tablets next to a note written on a PADD in Sulu's neat hand:

Hey, Tigger,

In the exercise room, practicing fencing. Don't shower - meet me there.

Love,  
\- Kashka

Chekov dropped the tablets in the water and downed the whole thing in one breath before running to the rec room. _Don't shower?_ It was an odd request, but he shrugged it off. He found Sulu in his grey fencing costume, the mask removed and his hair dripping with sweat.

"Hey, Tigger," Sulu grinned and set his foil aside, leaning in for a kiss.

Chekov pushed him away, "No, no! I smell like farm animals!"

Sulu kissed him anyway, chaste and quick on the lips like a bird landing and flying away again, "Then we should shower." Chekov blinked a couple times, curious as to why they could not shower in their own room. Without a word, they went to the locker room and undressed, Chekov finishing first and stepping into the shower. Sulu followed, stepping into the same shower as Chekov and much closer than was necessary. "You're very dirty."

"Yes, this is why I am in the shower. We would get cleaner if we were not in the same shower." As soon as he'd said it, he figured out what was going on.

"Yes, we would." A wicked grin spread across Sulu's lips as he pinned Chekov to the wall.

"But you are not interested in being clean, Kashka." Chekov smirked and wriggled out of Sulu's grasp, until he was behind the older man with a hand full of black hair and a wrist twisted behind Sulu's back, "You too, are wery dirty. Maybe you think you teach me too much now, da?"

Sulu laughed, "I can get out of this, you know."

"Da, I know. But I wish to show you I am not your girl," He tightened his grip on Sulu's wrist and hair, "I am not weak to give in whenehwer you like. I have to ask something first."

"Ask away." The shower hummed around them, low and steady, sound waves pulsing against their muscles.

"Why here?"

Sulu twisted out of Chekov's grasp, breaking the hold, then pulling him in so that they stood hip to hip and nose to nose, "Why not?"

"It is public. What if someone should hear?"

"We can go back to our room."

"It is too late now. You are already erect. You want me all day long?" Chekov's crooked grin was as wicked as Sulu's, if not more devious, "There are many pretty girls in Engineering to corrupt innocent boy-genius, you know."

"I know, and yes, I've wanted you all day long. I missed you at the helm today." He kissed Chekov slow and soft on closed lips, "Lieutenant Painter is not nearly as pretty as you are."

"I am not pretty," he pouted, "I haf stunning good looks - handsome Russian features."

He ran his fingers down Chekov's back and settled both hands on the curve of his muscled behind, "Mmmm..."

Chekov pursed his lips and rocked his pelvis forward, "Maybe I say 'no' this time."

"You won't." He squeezed hard and Chekov squeaked.

"Okay, maybe not." Their lips locked in a kiss, all tongue and teeth, hungry for one another. "But sometimes maybe I balance zhe equation."

"Maybe." His soft laugh was barely audible over the hum of the shower, "Or maybe you're simply adapting under the pressure..." He cupped the young man's testicles and moved his hand in millimeters to encircle the hard and eager penis, "of biological..." He stroked once and Chekov started to melt, "imperative."

"Hnngh, Hikaru," He copied his lover's movements, fondling the brown and black testicles and moving his hand to Sulu's erect penis, "Now we are balanced, Pavel and Hika-" A door opened and both were suddenly quiet, though they did not stop stroking each other, Chekov mapping out every square centimeter of Sulu's erection.

"I'll take you home again, Kathleen!" Riley sang at the top of his lungs, "Across the ocean wild and wide..." Chekov bit his lip and shut his lips tight. Sulu barely suppressed a snicker and then plastered his mouth over Chekov's, their breathing mostly hidden by the hum of the shower. Riley continued his off-key singing, "To where your heart has ever been - Hey, Sulu, you in here?" Chekov's eyes went wide and he shook his head.

Sulu put one finger to his lips, as he continued to pump his hand over Chekov's flesh, "Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." Chekov's face squinched up and he paused to focus on the rush of hormones as his ejaculate washed down the drain.

"I saw your fencing stuff out here," Riley continued talking as Chekov dropped to his knees and swallowed Sulu nearly to the hilt. The sword metaphor, Chekov decided, was appropriate for the occasion, "and thought that might be you in the shower. Hey, if you see Chekov," he nearly gagged at the mention of his name, but continued licking and sucking if for no other reason than to keep himself quiet, "tell him Scotty's got a batch of hooch he wants his professional opinion on."

There was a pause while Sulu opened his mouth wide and closed his eyes as semen jetted out into Chekov's throat. "Um," Sulu's voice broke a little, "Yeah, I'll let him know."

"Great! Hey, listen, Yeoman Barrows is starting a weekly yoga class. I hear she's _very_ flexible." Chekov stood up and gave himself a cursory scrub to clean all the parts that needed it. Sulu did the same, turned off the shower, and held his hand out so that Chekov would know to stay.

He wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out of the shower, closing the door behind him. "I'm still gay, Riley." Sulu replied.

"Oh, right." Sulu pulled on a pair of clean underwear and shorts as Riley pulled on a pair of red tights.

"Those tights look stupid," Sulu remarked. "Are you Jewish? 'Cause I can see everything in those."

"I'm Catholic," Riley looked at himself, "and you're right. they do look stupid."

"Do you have pajama pants?" Chekov bit his hand as he listened to them talking so he would not laugh.

"Yeah, back in my quarters, but it's ten minutes 'til class!"

"Better run!" Chekov heard footsteps leaving and Sulu shouting after, "Hurry! You can make it!" The door opened and shut again and Sulu tossed a pair of shorts to Chekov. He pulled them on and bounced out of the shower, giggling, "C'mon, let's go change for dinner, Tigger."

"Okay," He choked out through chortles and snerks.

Sulu smirked and gathered his things, "You're cute when you giggle."

"I am not 'cute.' I am manly - and men do not geegle, particularly Russian men. Russian men do not geegle. Do you think Yuri Gagarin geegled? No. Tsar Nicholas? No." Riley came back with a pair of red plaid pajama pants in hand. Chekov giggled.

"Oh, hi Pavel." Riley looked confused.

"Hello, Riley. You are well, I hope?" Chekov grinned wide as Riley nodded. They waved their goodbyes and the two lovers laughed all the way to their quarters.


	2. Adaptation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chekov and Sulu are chosen for an extended away mission based on their unique qualifications.

_****_

Kirk took his time walking to the briefing room. He knew that since he was the Captain, it was impossible for him to be late. Heck, he could stand in the hallway and chat up a cute Yeoman for half an hour and consider it official business - particularly when it wasn't going to go any farther than just flirting. He sighed, _Not today._ Kirk straightened his uniform shirt and went in, his head full of information about this planet.

"Alright, let's get this over with." He sat in his briefing room chair and pulled up a picture of the planet that projected onto the wall behind him. "This is Theta 957. They grow a root plant here that is extremely nutritive, naturally resistant to disease and pests, but difficult to grow." He showed a picture of the living plant and then the tuber. "Even though they seem to be able to grow it in just about every climate and soil type, all attempts by federation scientists to cultivate it have failed." Sulu raised his hand. _Seriously, Sulu, we're not in grade school, put your hand down._ "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Are there any trace minerals in the soil? Is there some kind of radiation that makes them grow?" Kirk had already figured Sulu would be interested in this assignment because of his background in botany. Spock would want it, but Sulu was a better choice.

"All of that's been looked at. There's a research summary in the files I'll be giving you later." He took a deep breath. "I've already decided who is to beam to the planet for this mission and before I say who it is, I made my decision based on the unique qualifications of the officers in question and anyone caught making inappropriate comments is going to be docked a day's furlough. Is that understood?" They all acknowledged, but Kirk steeled himself for at least one protest. "Good. Mr. Sulu, you're to head the expedition. Mr. Chekov will accompany you as your assistant."

"But Captain," The voice of protest was an unexpected one. Chekov himself was objecting, "I do not know anything about growing things. I do not think I am qualified for this, Sir."

"Mr. Chekov, you are a Starfleet officer and therefore capable and adaptable to whatever the situation requires." Kirk smiled, hoping to instill confidence in the young Ensign.

"I am confused, Sir," Chekov continued, "as to what qualifications I haf that make me uniquely suitable to assist Mr. Sulu in this assignment. This is a pre-warp society and adwanced knowledge of physics and transporter theory will be useless there - unless I am to be teaching them this, which wiolates the Prime Directive, Sir."

The kid's been hanging out with Spock, he could tell. "You are uniquely qualified for several reasons, Mr. Chekov. The first being your heritage. You grew up in Obninsk and you are better adapted to the climate of the target area than Mr. Sulu. You can help him adapt. The second is your age. It is customary for a man of Sulu's age to mentor a younger man - that would be you. I could send another botanist, but it wouldn't be believable. Some are more knowledgeable about plants than Mr. Sulu, but less so about arcane weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. It is not uncommon for a young man to be challenged to fight and I need someone who can defend themselves. There are two other botanists on staff, Lieutenant Blum and Lieutenant Herlihy, both in their forties and neither with sufficient hand-to-hand training. We need someone younger than Mr. Sulu who genuinely knows zilch about farming. Any other doubts, Ensign?"

"No, Sir."

 _Thirdly, it's going to be a long-term assignment and I won't have you mopey 'cause your boyfriend's being playing farmer Joe somewhere. And there's the other reason. I'll get to that later._ "Lieutenant Uhura will brief you on language conventions and Mr. Spock has extensive knowledge of their culture and customs. The Enterprise will be out of range for most of the duration of this assignment, but we will contact you at scheduled times and dates. Any other questions?" _Pause, one, two, three..._ "Dismissed." They all stood to leave, but there was one more thing Kirk had to say to them. "Mr. Chekov, Lieutenant Sulu, a word with you please." He waited 'til the last of them had gone, "Spock's not going to tell you this part. It's not in his cultural notes, but I can read between the lines and both Herlihy and Blum confirmed my suspicions. Mr. Sulu, are you familiar with the terms 'erastes' and 'eromenos?'"

Sulu swallowed hard and blushed a bit, "Um, yes, Sir."

"Good." _Awkward conversation #58 avoided in 3, 2, 1,_ "It's like that. Kindly explain to Mr. Chekov, I have work to do." _Bingo._ He patted both men on the shoulder and left the briefing room, triumphant.

\---

They were headed for their last duty shift before it was time to prepare for their mission, "What does this mean, 'erastes' and 'eromenos?'" Chekov asked.

"Shh, Not so loud. I'll explain after our shift." Sulu thought about his extensive knowledge of Earth's history regarding homosexuality and was a little embarrassed at how much he knew. _That's why we were chosen. Are there no other gay botanists with advanced hand-to-hand combat experience and young boyfriends?...Okay, when you put it that way..._

"Is it regarding sex?" Chekov was nothing if not straightforward. Subtle like a supernova.

"Yeah."

"Okay, after duty shift, then." A grin spread crooked across his face, "Maybe you will show me. It is easier to learn by doing, you know."

Sulu allowed himself a little laugh, "You're incorrigible."

"You encourage me!" Sulu turned to explain, but the persistent grin suggested that he knew exactly what he was saying.


	3. The Dominant Male

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chekov and Sulu, uh, prepare for their mission and discuss the finer points of love in Ancient Greece.

Get naked and on your hands and knees, Pavel." Sulu strutted into their room looking like a wildcat about to pounce.

Chekov looked him in the eye, "Is that an order, Sir?"

Sulu grabbed the back of his head and pushed him into a forceful kiss. Chekov played at fighting him, allowing Sulu to invade his mouth with his tongue. His fingers raked through the soft brown curls and with a tight grip and sharp pull, broke the kiss. Chekov bared his teeth, but Sulu's Cheshire grin was steady, "Do you want it to be?"

"You are wery bossy, Sir." Chekov's lips pouted around the "w," pink cheeks and red lips betraying his arousal before his hardening cock. He thought about the word, "cock," and how Sulu had strutted into their room. He ran his hand up his superior's thigh and held his testicles through the black uniform trousers. "Wery, wery bossy."

Sulu cupped Chekov's chin and kissed him, tight and controlled. Then in the space of two breaths, the Ensign was on his knees as Sulu held his wrist in a lock over his head. "You wanted a lesson, so I'm giving you a lesson. You said, 'It is easier to learn by doing,' and I'm _trying_ to make things easier for you. Don't you want to learn about 'erastes' and 'eromenos?' We have a mission to prepare for."

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." Chekov huffed a laugh, "Maybe next time I teach you something."

"If I let you." His voice was low and smooth and Chekov imagined the sound waves moving over his skin, tickling the little hairs on his arms and the back of his neck. This was one of his favorite games to play and while to the observer, the equation seemed to be unbalanced, one side greater than the other, balance was always maintained.

For example:  
Not only was his other hand free, but Sulu had deliberately chosen a wrist lock that Chekov knew how to break. He could very easily free his hand and knock Sulu to the floor. Barring that, there was always a headbutt to the balls if he got scared.

It had taken a solid week to convince Sulu to play with him in this way, Chekov insisting that he was neither fragile nor helpless. Thereafter their games had been very calculated, very precise, so that Chekov, not Sulu, kept the upper hand in the struggle for dominance, even when it seemed otherwise. He bowed his head to feign submission, broke the hold, and pulled Sulu to the floor as he had been taught. "I did not get to be a nawigator on zhe Enterprise at sewenteen by learning at anozher's pace."

"You're a good student, Uke."

"Glad to hear. Now you teach me new words. Now we prepare for our mission." Chekov straddled Sulu, hands on his hips.

"So get naked and on your hands and knees on the bed." Chekov did not move, "That's an order, Ensign."

"Yes, Sir!" He jumped up and began stripping off his uniform with more speed than grace as Sulu sat in the desk chair and watched. Then, as ordered, he clambered onto the bed and waited on hands and knees. "You are not naked, Sir."

"Are you questioning my orders, Ensign?" His touch was light and loving as he trailed his fingers over Chekov's bare skin, up his thighs, over his firm buttocks, and then across the length of his back. "You know what happens to insubordinate officers." His hand returned to the pale cheeks and rested there. It had taken two weeks and three days to convince Sulu that he would not break from a smack on the ass.

"Yes, Sir. I know, Sir. I would nehwer question zhe Captain's orders, Sir." He leaned back a few centimeters into Sulu's hand, hoping for one good swat. He got what he wanted and like thunder that precedes lightning, a loud smack came microseconds before the sting and warm rush of blood that always felt so good.

"Good. Knees together." Sulu rubbed the spot he'd swatted and then continued petting his Ensign's back.

"Aye, Sir."

"In ancient Greece, it was customary for older men to mentor 'beardless youths' as they were called." He stroked Chekov's smooth chin and turned his head for a kiss that would be chaste but for the thoughts both men were having. Sulu undressed at a leisurely pace, comfortable in his own skin. Chekov grew impatient, his erection now fully hard and and every square centimeter of skin aching to be touched like a static field that reached out to attract the opposite charge. He whined a little when Sulu took too long undressing, turning his head to glimpse his lover's bare flesh. "Face forward." Chekov complied, knowing that anticipation only served to amplify the experience. The bed dipped down behind him, "The erastes was the active partner, a man of marriagable age, and he courted the eromenos." A hand tickled the inside of Chekov's thigh and he shivered. "That's you." Chekov bit his lip and mumbled a curse as he felt Sulu's hard flesh ease between his thighs. "This is how they did it, between the thighs, and you feel good this way, Pavel. Your legs are so strong."

"Thank you, Sir." Chekov whispered through a shuddered breath, the electrical charge of his nerves reaching an almost unbearable level. He tightened the muscles in his legs and delighted in the sound Sulu made as pressure increased.

"God, that's good." He thrust forward once or twice before touching Chekov, one strong hand wrapped around eager pink flesh. "It was the job of the erastes to love and educate the eromenos and God, I love you, Pavel." Chekov set the pace, rocking back and forth on his knees, simultaneously fucking Sulu's hand and pushing backward against his lover. He'd change the cadence, just to hear his 'Kashka moan, "Fuck, Pavel!" And then this man who always seemed in control would completely lose it, frantically thrusting forward as they exchanged obscenities. It didn't matter that one shouted in English and the other in Russian. The meanings translated clearly in the movement of two naked bodies as they crashed together again and again and the spoken syllables ceased to matter.

Sulu came first, his ejaculate dripping down Chekov's leg, but the Ensign held back, gritting his teeth and holding his breath, "May I come now, Sir? Please, now?"

"Come for me, Pavel. Come for your Captain." Chekov released his breath and felt his heart beat twice in his throat before he spilled all over Sulu's hand and their sheets.

"Thank you, Captain." They tumbled onto the mattress, Chekov all limbs and kisses, "I am ready for our mission now."

\---

"So," Kirk walked two steps in front of them toward the transporter room, anxious to get the mission started and half-wishing he could go with them, "You boys ready for your mission?"

"Yes, Sir," Sulu answered, "We've spoken with Lieutenants Herlihy and Blum, we've been briefed in language and culture, and I've reviewed all of the research notes, Sir."

"Great. You've got your backstory?" The story Starfleet sent him was not lacking in detail, but certainly lacking in dramatic interest. He'd added a few things to make it more beleivable. Sulu's parents didn't approve of his choice in lovers and Chekov was trying to escape an arranged marriage with the ugly daughter of a shoemaker. He was particularly proud of the last bit.

"Yes, Sir." Sulu responded, "I come from the south and wish to join the community for a time in order to teach my student the value of physical labor. My parents were sailors, but I refused to take up the occupation. His parents were poor bakers. We are using our given names so as to avoid confusion, so I'm Hikaru do Sato and he's Pavel do Andrei." They paused outside the transporter room, "Is that about it, Captain?"

"Yes, Lieutenant." _They forgot the bit about the ugly shoemaker's daughter..._ "Are you ready for this, Ensign?" Kirk smiled at Chekov and clapped his shoulder, knocking him off balance for a moment.

"Yes, Sir. I am well-prepared for the mission." He stood at attention, shoulders back and the picture of confidence. Even in the civillian clothes of this planet, he carried himself like an officer. "I do not wish to be a baker or to marry the ugly girl. I memorized all of this."

 _I'm so proud!_ He let them enter before him and helped load their bags onto the transporter pad, "Good luck, gentlemen." They nodded and then stood still as Scotty beamed them down, "They grow up so fast!"

"Aye, Sir, that they do." He finished beaming them down and then leaned back in his chair, "D'ya reckon they'll let me play at the weddin', Cap'n? I play a mean set o' bagpipes."

"I don't think they're picking out china just yet, Scotty," Kirk grinned, "but I'm working on being offended if they don't ask me to do the ceremony."

"How long d'you suppose they'll wait to pop the question? My money's on a year, tops."

Scotty was not speaking figuratively. The supposedly secret ship's betting pool had odds calculated at 15:1 that they would propose within the ship's first year of service. "Six months, and Chekov proposes." Those odds had been calculated at 100:1 and Scotty seemed surprised, "Chekov's a family man and knows what he wants. I'd also like to remind you that wagering is frowned upon on my ship, Scotty, particularly when it involves relationships between personel."

"Aye, Sir. Good thing nobody I know would do such a thing." His feigned innocence was hardly believable.

"Uh-huh. Good day, Scotty."

"Good day, Cap'n."


	4. Field Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of the mission goes well.

_****_

"Well, I guess this is it." Sulu pointed to the village a few hundred meters away and hefted his bag onto his shoulder, "What's the name of this place again?"

"Eh... It is called Delvwintown. Farming willage, population approximately three hundred." He recalled the stats with ease, figures and statistics, measured quantities that made the universe easier to deal with. This system's sun, not much different than Sol, was beginning to set, red against a purple and magenta sky. If he was in Obninsk, he'd say it was late fall by the brown grass and the way his breath hung in the air, "It is nice weather!"

Sulu had wrapped his scarf around his face so that only the top of his head was visible, "It's freezing! How can you stand it?"

"It is brisk, inwigorating, good for running." He cocked his head at Sulu, "You are cold, Hikaru?"

"Yeah. Which one's the common house? Maybe they have something warm to drink." He'd found a knitted hat and put it on and now only his brown eyes were visible.

Chekov laughed out loud, "You look like - forgif me - you look like a ninja, a wery cold ninja!" Sulu just rolled his eyes. "It feels like October." The stiffness of regimen started to fall away as they walked, but there was a little nervousness there as well. What if they were found out? What if they wouldn't let them in? The odds were good, previous field work suggested as much, but there was that small chance that it would all fall apart. The approached a round building in the middle of the little village where smoke floated up into the darkening sky. "Should we knock?"

"Uh...yeah, I guess so." Sulu raised a hand to the door and rapped lightly on it.

A girl, probably sixteen and blonde with too-green eyes answered, her hands on her hips, "Why did you do that for? Come in, strangers." They looked at each other and shrugged, thanking the girl as they walked over the threshold into a large hall that was half livingroom, half bar, half meeting hall. That was three halves, but it was a big hall. The girl held her hands out and waited, "Your coats?"

"Oh!" Sulu exclaimed, "Sure, thanks." Chekov shed his coat in a third the time it took for Sulu to remove his outer layer of clothing and she hung each item carefully on a peg on the wall with other coats and hats and scarves. "We need a place to stay for a while."

A broad-shouldered man, about thirty years old came over and kissed the blonde girl on the mouth, "Who're your friends, Lirra?"

"I never got their names." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "My name is Lirra, this is my husband Jal do Shan."

"Peace to your house, Jal. My name is Hikaru do Sato and this is my student Pavel do Andrei." They shook hands and smiled. The people seemed friendly enough so far.

"Peace to you, Hikaru and Pavel. Strange names." Chekov's heart jumped up into his throat, a moment of fear that everything would unravel like a mathmatical proof built on a mistaken assumption, "You from the South?"

"Yeah," Sulu answered. Chekov relaxed a little. The less they said, the better.

"You look cold, we've got some hot cider on." He walked next to his wife, his hand on her back and Chekov thought briefly on how nice it would be for Sulu to touch him like that in public. The man looked over his shoulder at them, "You can leave your things by the door."

Everything here was quieter, looser, as if all the equations were simpler, allowing for greater margins of error. Chekov grinned, thinking of Newtonian physics, calculations of the movements of bodies before humans knew space travel. He thought of his days as a little boy, looking up at the stars through his first telescope, learning the names of each one. Simple. People ate, drank, talked, laughed, and that's all there was to it.

"Does your student talk at all?" Jal asked Sulu.

"He's shy," Sulu replied.

"I am not shy," Chekov protested, "I am simply observwing. I like this place, Hikaru."

Their host laughed, "I like him. When I was your age, my student was very serious like him. I was the adventurous one. We were a good balance for each other, I think. I get the same feeling from you two - like you balance each other."

"My husband likes to think Orrin settled him down, but I know better." She took his elbow and leaned her head against his bicep before leaving to fetch their drinks.

Jal offered them a seat on an upholstered couch near the fireplace. He examined them, brow wrinkled in much the same way Dr. McCoy's did when he was concentrating on a problem, "How long has he been your student?"

"Um..." Sulu thought a little too long about it.

"Approximately sewenty-fife days." It had been about three months, but the days were longer here. He leaned in to whisper in Sulu's ear, "It was in the story the Captain gafe us. He conwerted how many days since the arboretum."

"Yeah?" Sulu said out loud. Chekov nodded, his curls bouncing.

Jal chuckled as his young wife brought four steaming mugs on a tray, "Here you boys go. I talked to Elle and she's got room at her place. You can stay there for as long as you need to. You should know we're harvesting tomorrow, but since you're guests, you're not expected to help. It would be appreciated, of course."

"Lirra," Jal chided, "they've had a long journey. We can't ask them-"

"No, it's alright," Sulu interrupted, "I look forward to it." He took a sip of his cider, "This is good, thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll get you something to eat, you must be starved." She left again after kissing her husband on the cheek. He smiled and watched her walk away and Chekov thought how she was like a little bird.

Another woman came over to where they sat, her hand extended to Sulu, "Hi, I'm Elle. You'll be staying at my house. Lirra tells me you're from the South and- Oh, my, you _are_ a handsome young thing!" She was a curvaceous woman, not fat, as such, but filled out and plump like Babushka. "Your student's a cutie, too, but too skinny." She sounded like Babushka, too. "Which one of you is Hikaru and which one is Pavel?"

They both stood and Sulu took her hand, bowing respectfully, "Hikaru S- Um, do Sato, Ma'am. This is my student, Pavel do Andrei."

"Oh, but aren't you a polite one!" She twittered, "No reason to be so formal, Hikaru. It's a pleasure to meet you - and you too, Pavel! Oh, I just want to squeeze him! You're a lucky man, don't let this one go. He's definitely a keeper. You must be quite the fighter to keep such an attractive boy as your student!" She let go of Sulu's hand and took Chekov by the shoulders. Sulu turned up one corner of his mouth, "Let me get a look at you." She squeezed his arms and Pavel was sure he'd have bruises there later, "Yes, definitely. You're much too thin. Lirra!" She shuffled away toward the kitchen, "Extra helpings for Pavel!"

Jal laughed and Sulu blushed. "So, that's Elle. What can I say?"

"Is she always like that?" Sulu asked.

 Jal nodded, "Yeah."

"She makes me think of Babushka- eh, my grandmother. Except... Hikaru, you have not met my grandmother. She would think you are too skinny." They drank cider and relaxed, chatting with the locals and eating a stew made from the focus of their study. It was a white root with a brown skin, not dissimilar from a potato, save for the veins of red and orange streaking through its meat. Chekov thought of his Babushka's cooking, potato soup and borscht, a hundred different things done with cabbage and roots, all of which warmed him from the inside.

The sky darkened and as unfamiliar stars twinkled overhead, their exuberant host led them to where they would be staying, "Harvest tomorrow, you know - busy, busy day! There's so much to do bring in the chirrit and then there's preserving it and the winter planting..." She went on about all the little preparations to be made and Sulu listened intently. "Well, here you are! This was my son's room. Don't you boys make too much noise, okay?" She winked at them and then set their things on a chair before shutting the door behind her.

Sulu sat down on the bed, bouncing a couple times to test its softness. "Not bad." He waggled his eyebrows, "What say we really test it out?"

"We should call the Captain first. He will worry." Chekov dug through his bag for his communicator, "Aha!"

"I hate waiting." He pouted and fell backwards onto the bed with a huff.

"You call. You are the superior officer." Sulu reached his hand up without looking and took the communicator.

He flipped open and it chirped, "Sulu to Enterprise."

"Kirk here. How's it going?"

"Locals are friendly, food's good, nobody's tried to kill us yet. All in all a success so far." Sulu summed up their evening fairly well in his few words.

"How's Chekov?"

"Good." Sulu put it very simply, but "good" was insufficient to modify how he felt.

Chekov waved as though he could be seen, "Hullo, Captain! It is wery nice here!"

Sulu laughed, "Chekov says hi."

"Alright, kids, next check-in is in one week exactly - that's ship time, so keep an eye on your chronometer."

"Aye, Sir." He snapped the communicator shut and handed it back to Chekov. "Hand me the PADD so I can write down what Elle said before I forget."

Chekov dug it out from the bottom of the bag and whined a little, "But I want to have sex now! It has been a long day and it is time for de-briefing."

"Oh, wow," Sulu pinched the bridge of his nose, "You really need to stop hanging around Scotty." He scribbled a few last things and handed the PADD to Chekov. "Did I forget anything?"

"You forgot the singing. She said something about singing." Chekov scrawled it down in a sloppy Cyrrilic print and set it on the bedside table. "There. Done. Sex now."

Sulu picked it up and looked it over, "I can't read thi- OOF! Pavel!"

He pinned Sulu to the bed and tossed the PADD aside, kissing and tugging at the loose tunic. He pulled it off, but there was another shirt underneath. Chekov scowled at the extra clothing, "Why do you wear so many clothes, Hikasha?" He pulled that off, too, only to find a t-shirt underneath, "Chyort voz'mi!"

"What does that mean, anyway?" Sulu laughed, almost giggling.

"Rude words, not to be said in front of Mama. You are like an onion with so many layers making me cry!" Sulu grabbed Chekov by the shoulders and rolled over. "Ack! Judo! No fair!" He giggled and closed his eyes as he was turned and twisted, his head hitting the soft mattress with a _whump_.

Their lovemaking was slow and quiet that night, an uncomplicated joining of bodies in the cold of the evening. When they finished, Chekov wrapped himself around his lover and listened. Instead of the constant hum of the ship vibrating around them, there was only the wind and a strange animal making low calls in the night. The change in sounds was a little unsettling, so he clung to the only things familiar to him on this strange planet, his 'Kashka and the feeling of crisp cold air on his skin, and he fell asleep.


	5. Interloper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sulu and Chekov, the second day of their research mission. There is some trouble adjusting to the new environment.

There was a soft rapping on the doorway and a sing-songy voice, "Good morning, boys!"

Chekov pulled the covers over his head and grumbled, "Nnghuhspyatmeenut."

"I have tea and pancakes." Elle touched Sulu's shoulder, patting his arm until he snorted and woke. "I know it's still dark, but we've got the harvest today."

"Snnxghn, humnh?" Sulu pushed himself up and opened one eye, still not quite awake, "Yeah, umn - we'll be up in a minute. Thanks." She smiled at him and shut the door behind herself as she shuffled out. Sulu pulled the covers down, but Chekov pulled them up again over his head and curled around Sulu as though he were his teddybear. "C'mon, Tigger. We gotta get to work."

"Work? No. Sleep, yes."

Sulu pulled the covers off again and tousled Chekov's hair. He curled into a tighter ball next to Sulu, pushing his cold nose into his lover's side. "C'mon, Tigger." Chekov sat up like a marionette being pulled up by its strings and rubbed his eyes as he moaned like the undead. "Aww, who's my zombie boy?"

"Nnngh, you haf brains to eat? I will eat them for my breakfast." He gnawed at Sulu's shoulder and then frowned. "No brains."

Sulu laughed and kissed the top of Chekov's head, mussing the curls again. Chekov combed through his hair with his fingers, hoping to tame it a little, but to no avail "You've got all the brains you need, Tigger. C'mon, let's get dressed. We've got work to do."

Breakfast was tea and a simple dish of something that resembled potato pancakes with a dollop of tart preserves on top. The flavors were a little odd, but not so alien as to be unpalatable. They both ate two helpings each and Elle was all smiles and cheer as she served them tea, but less exuberant than she'd been the night before. The morning was church-quiet and frosty and even as the villagers gathered in the field, bundled up and carrying baskets for the chirrit, conversations were hushed and short as though something might wake if they spoke too loud. When this system's sun rose, pink turning into yellow against a sky not quite as blue as a San Francisco summer, most had shed their gloves and scarves as their work warmed them. Sulu took readings in one corner of the field while Chekov continued to pull roots from the ground. One particularly large one refused to come out and he cursed and pulled at it without success.

A thick hand wrapped around his, working the root back and forth before pulling it out. Chekov looked into the eyes of the man who'd helped him and moved his hand away, "Thank you."

"I'm glad to help." The man had broad shoulders and chestnut hair that he kept braided and pinned up. His thick moustache and beard were neatly trimmed and did not hide his white teeth as he smiled. "Your teacher isn't doing his job. Perhaps you need someone stronger."

"No. I am fine." He looked away and resumed pulling chirrit, tossing it in the basket without looking at this new person.

"My name is Rennit. You're Pavel, right?" Chekov continued down the row, trying to move away without seeming impolite. "I like you, Pavel. I'd be a better teacher than your sailor." Rennit moved closer and brushed Chekov's cheek with his calloused fingers. "I'd be more attentive, too. He doesn't even kiss you, don't you find that odd?"

As politely as he could manage, Pavel pushed Rennit's hand aside and backed away, "I like Hikaru. He is a good teacher and I do not wish for another, thank you."

"I don't have to ask, you know. I can just take you for mine." He touched Chekov's face agan, but the Ensign pulled away and moved to a different row.

"No, thank you," he said in a firmer voice, "I am wery happy with Hikaru." He knelt by the row and pulled the chirrit from the grey-brown dirt as he felt a prickle rise around the edges of his thoughts. Rennit felt wrong, like a bad proof where half the assumptions were false or a quick-and-dirty equation with made-up numbers as nuisance parameters.

A thick hand gripped the back of Chekov's neck and pulled him up to standing, "I'm taking you for mine. I would have liked to hear you say 'yes,' but it's obvious you need a better teacher so that you will learn manners." He took Chekov by the hair, pulling hard toward the edge of the field, "Come, my little pet. You're mine now and I will teach you better than he can."

Rennit did not know he was unbalanced, that the way he held Chekov by the hair made him vulnerable. Sulu had, in fact, taught him well and as soon as he'd figured out that self defense was no less math and physics than navigating the stars, he began to make progress. It took him a moment to figure out the weak points, the elbow, the back of the knee, the angle of the shoulder, but as soon as he'd worked it out, Rennit was on the ground. "No. I do not wish another teacher, thank you." The man lay stunned on the ground and out of breath as Chekov stalked back to the rows of chirrit and pulled up more roots.

Sulu ran the dozen or so meters to where Chekov knelt, "Are you alright, Pavel?"

"Yes. Fine." In truth, Chekov was a little shaken, and with good reason, but he didn't want to show it.

Rennit stomped toward them, stepping over the rows of chirrit, his face red. "Your student does not know his place." Sulu stepped between Chekov and Rennit, though he did not raise his fists. "He'll be mine and I will teach him to respect his elders."

"Stand down." Sulu used his command voice, the same as the one he used while sitting in the captain's chair. "I don't want to fight you."

Rennit rolled up his sleeves, "Then stand aside, Tiny, and let me have the boy."

"The boy has a name." Rennit stepped too close and was on the ground once again, his arm twisted behind him. "And don't call me 'Tiny.'" Rennit picked up the pieces of his pride and left.

"I told him no, but he tried to take me like I am property! I do not belong to anyone. I am not a thing!" He kicked a rock in Rennit's direction and grunted, spouting curses in Russian that would make his Babushka blush.

"Hey," he stroked Chekov's back until he started to relax a little, "I'm sorry. I'll stay by your side in case he comes back. That guy's going to be trouble later."

"No. I am not a child." He picked up his basket and walked to another part of the feild. "I can take care of myself."

"Pavel!" He jogged to catch up, "It's my job to look out for you."

Chekov continued walking away, "I do not need it. I can manage for myself, Hikaru, and I am not a child."

"I know you're not," Chekov's walking pace was almost as fast as most people ran and it was difficult for Sulu to keep up. He managed to grab one of Chekov's shoulders and spun him around so that they could talk face-to-face. "It's just that I don't want to see you get hurt. You're..." He sighed and turned his face toward the midday sun, "God, Pavel, if anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself."

"Hmmph." was Chekov's only answer.

"Pavel, we're still on a mission and I'm still your commanding officer." He lowered his voice, but the tone of command was clear. "Our job is to blend in, so I'm going to need you to suck it up and play your part. Is that understood, Ensign?"

Chekov clenched his jaw and straightened his spine, "Yes, sir." Sulu stayed nearby, but they did not speak the rest of the day and as the sky darkened they gathered the baskets of chirrit and took them to the large barn at the edge of the village.

He lost sight of Sulu in the crowd as they all made their way to the common house and he almost didn't care. Wrapped up in his grousing, he didn't notice Rennit behind him until a hand clapped over his mouth and he was pulled away to a dark corner. "If you make so much as a sound, I will kill you." He felt a sharp object press against his back and fear burned in his throat like cheap vodka. Rennit pulled him into a dark empty house and pushed him down to the hard floor. "You're too pretty for him, so now you belong to me. Take your clothes off, boy, or I will cut them off." Chekov shut his eyes tight and tried not to cry. He took a deep breath and tried to push the fear down with anger as he removed his shirt and pants. "Good. Face down."

"No. I do not want you. I want Hikaru." Rennit's thick hand grabbed Chekov's shoulder too hard and flipped him over, then pushing his face to the floor.

"What you want is irrelevant. You're mine now, and you will obey me." Chekov struggled, but could not escape the other man's grasp. He felt Rennit's weight on top of him and anger and fear stuck at the point of the knife that pressed against his throat.

"No, no, no!" he cried, words coming out in sobs, "I do not want this!"

"Quiet, boy!" Rennit hissed and pressed the knife harder into Chekov's neck. He felt hard flesh against him, but he could not get free. He could only whimper and pray to a God he wasn't sure was on this planet.

He heard the door slam open before he saw the lamplight, and then a familiar voice, deep and smooth like a heavy satin, spoke. "Get off him or I swear I'll cut you into so many pieces they'll have to use a spoon to gather your remains." Rennit did not move. "Get off. Now. If you want to fight me for him, then fight me. Pavel is _my_ student and no man will take what's mine without a fight."

"I have my knife to his throat and my root at his backside. You'll back off if you don't want him injured." What he meant by "root" was apparent and he pushed his filthy rude flesh into Chekov's behind.

"Face me, or you will die a coward." Rennit moved slowly off and Chekov scrambled away, grabbing his clothes and holding them over his privates as he cried. Sulu had one of his more primitive swords, a thing that curved slightly with a flat blade unlike the fencing foils he usually used. Elle stood behind him with the lamp. Sulu flicked his wrist and sent Rennit's knife skittering across the floor.

The interloper raised his hands in surrender, but a lewd smile crossed his lips, "There are three days until planting. We will fight for the boy at dawn on planting day."

Sulu might have killed him with the hate in his black eyes, but he held back with quiet control, "Agreed."

He picked up the knife, put it in his belt, and sauntered away "You'd better watch him until then. He's too pretty, your boy."

When Rennit was a safe distance away, Sulu ran to where Chekov had curled himself into a little ball and wrapped his arms around him as he sobbed. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" Chekov just cried and shook his head, "It's okay, Tigger. I'm here."

Elle took a blanket from a chair and wrapped it around the young Ensign, "Let's get you dressed and back home, dear. I'll make you some hot soup and tea and you'll be alright. He's a little rough, that one. He's perfectly within his rights, of course, but he shouldn't hurt a precious boy like you."

He pulled on his clothes and managed to hold it together until they were back at Elle's house, but he did not want food. He only wanted his Hikaru and to be wrapped in his gravity, safe and protected. He hadn't been this scared when he faced the Klingon or when fighting the Narada or any other time in his life. Sulu took him to their room and curled around him, stroking the bridge of his nose as he cried himself to sleep, whispering "I'm here. You're safe."


	6. Planting Seeds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sulu defends Chekov's honor.

_****_Sulu had placed the last of the pancakes on a plate when a shout came from the room where they'd been sleeping. "Hikaru! Hikaru!!" He rushed down the hall and and burst into their room where Chekov sat up straight, hyperventilating, with his eyes wide in panic.

"It's okay, Tigger, I'm here. You're safe. I'm here." Chekov fell into his lap, his breath still quick but slowing, "I was helping Elle in the kitchen. She was making breakfast and we were going to bring you some."

She knocked on the door and then tiptoed in with a tray full of chirrit pancakes and tea, "Here you are, Pavel. Hikaru made them for you. Well, I showed him how, but he did most of the work. He's really dedicated to you." She fidgeted and fussed over preparing the tea and frowned, "I was so worried when you didn't eat last night, so I made sure there was a little extra on your plate this morning. " She finished with the tea and handed it to Chekov, who clutched it close to his face and blew the steam away. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but what Rennit did was wrong. He shouldn't hurt such a sweet boy and I don't care about his rights as a man. He _can_ steal you away from Hikaru, but that doesn't mean he should. You and Hikaru are in love, I can tell. I can always tell. I knew with Jal and Lirra, too. It's not supposed to happen between a teacher and student, but it does and it isn't wrong." Elle laughed and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Listen to me going on! You eat little Pavel, you're too thin." She plucked at his curls in an attempt to neaten them a little, but eventually gave up, patting his head. She turned and smiled at the two young men sitting hip to hip, Sulu balancing the tray on his lap and pushing the plate of pancakes toward Chekov, and then shuffled back to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up." Sulu picked at his breakfast and did not look into Chekov's blue eyes. He thought them particularly sad and hurt today and his chest tightened just thinking about what he'd let happen. "I'm sorry I wasn't there when that guy-"

"It is not your fault." Chekov said around a mouthful of pancake, "I should haf stayed where you could see or... ugh. I no longer feel like eating." He put his fork down and pushed the plate away. "I am ill to think about it. It is my own fault because I did not follow orders. You are my superior officer and I should always follow orders."

Sulu set the tray aside, " _He_ attacked _you_. That is not your fault, never will be your fault, and you can just forget about taking any kind of blame for that, understood?"

"I do not want to talk about this." He flopped back onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head.

"Alright, but you've got to eat and you've got to get up." A muffled grumble came from under the blankets, "First of all, I've never known you to back down from anything. Secondly, if you don't get up and face this, he wins. Thirdly, if you don't eat, Elle's going to kick my butt." The blankets rose and fell as Chekov sighed. "She and Sartori would get along great." Still, there was no response. "They could tag-team the Captain when he tries to sneak into the freezer." Chekov laughed and said something that was lost under the blankets. Sulu pulled them off again, "What?"

"I said that the Captain would not stand a chance."

He kissed his lover's side and Sulu jerked away. "That tickles!" Chekov laughed and preceded the tickle-assault that followed with a mischievous that ended with both laughing and tumbling on the bed, the younger man pinned beneath the older. Sulu kissed Chekov lightly on the lips, "C'mon, you, breakfast. That's an order, Mister."

"Yes, sir." The next two days were busy with drying and preserving the chirrit, men and women singing and stomping their feet as they worked. Where the harvest was a somber affair, this was more celebratory and they sang of abundance and thanksgiving. Each night, a great feast was held in the common house, complete with something not that different from vodka. They celebrated together both nights, singing and dancing with the locals, but always with a cautious eye to Rennit. The third night marked the last of the feasting with planting to begin the next morning and if the first two nights were celebratory, the third was nearly debaucherous. Chekov and Sulu stayed close, no farther than arm's reach away, and often kissed and smiled at each other. Rare was the opportunity for them to express their love in this way and they were grateful for it. The locals would see this as the posessive teacher keeping tabs on his student, but the secret that anyone with eyes could see was that their affection for each other was genuine. The warm blush in Sulu's cheeks when Chekov fell into his lap and the way they both closed their eyes and sighed into a long, deep kiss gave it away. Still Rennit wanted what was not his to take and more than once tried to separate them, but at each attempt, when he wasn't being stared down by the indomitable Mr. Sulu, Elle, the ever-cheerful hostess, directed his attention elsewhere.

As they snuggled together in their bed, warmed by alcohol and each other, Chekov began to tense his shoulders. "Wha's wrong, Tigger?"

"I do not want you to fight tomorrow, 'Kashka." He turned himself over onto his other side and rested his head on Sulu's chest. "You could be hurt. Perhaps we can just call the Captain and he will come for us."

Sulu's long sigh meant that he'd already considered contacting the Enterprise. "They're probably still out of range and besides, we still have readings to take. We don't know what triggers germination in these things, so it's important to try and examine them as seedlings. When do we check in?"

"Two days." The rhythm of Sulu's heart pulled him toward sleep, "Hikasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you... ehm..." Chekov hesitated and then shook his head, "Nehwermind. I will ask later. We should have sex."

Sulu ran his fingers through Chekov's hair, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He kissed his lover's chest as his fingers danced over Sulu's muscular abdomen as though he were charting a course on the conn and then deft fingertips tripped down to the fuzz around his still-soft penis. It moved at his touch, warm and growing harder as Sulu hummed in appreciation.

Sulu closed his eyes and focused on the feeling of his lover's hand on his body, the breath moving in and out of his lungs, the way Chekov's chest rose and fell with each inhalation and exhalation. Thoughts of the morning to come rose up in his mind, as ugly and forceful as Rennit had been, but he let them pass. Now there was the cold night air and the warmth of Chekov's thin body as white limbs twined around brown. Now was all that mattered. He rolled over onto his side and gave Chekov a firm kiss that was as good as a shot of sake. Sulu was as glad to yield to his lover's touch as he was being in control. Before, he always took and never allowed himself to be taken, but Chekov was different. He was sweet, but not effeminate, slender, but strong, boyish, but not a child. Even when he cried, there was never weakness in it.

His mind had started to wander, so he inhaled slowly, pulling Chekov toward him so that they lay, pelvis to pelvis under the thick covers. Each point of contact reminded him to focus on the moment, on Pavel, and to do what the moment required. When Chekov took him, it was with a balance of strength and gentility, focus and enthusiasm. "Pavel, I love you," he said as they moved together like sine and cosine. "You feel so good inside me."

"Ja teb'a l'ubl'u, Hikashka." Sulu knew what this meant and even though he did not understand the breathy Russian sentences that followed, the sound of Chekov's voice was enough to send him over the edge.

\---

Sulu was up well before dawn, stretching his muscles as best as he could in the tiny bedroom in preparation for the fight to come. He took his sword from the sheath and examined the blade, finding it sharp enough to shave with, clean, and in perfect condition. This battered old thing was not his favorite blade, not as beautiful as his katanas, not as elegant as his fencing foils, but it would do for the job. This one was a cutlass, a replica of one used by the French Navy in the 19th century, and he had bought it when he was feeling in a particularly swashbuckling mood after several months of Errol Flynn movies and pizza every week with his boyfriend, George. He'd taken up swordfighting as a teenager, having been enamored with the story of the Three Musketeers since he was a child and when his sisters were old enough, they played with plastic swords as Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. He was always Athos, the leader and the oldest. Hana was Porthos and Kiko was Aramis. He never thought fencing, of all things, would be a useful skill for a Starfleet Officer. It was a hobby, painfully outdated by phasers and other modern weapons, but he loved the feel of a sword, the weight of it in his hand. He huffed as he placed the weapon back in its sheath, "Next thing you know, they'll have me shooting a Colt .45 or flying a helicopter."

"Wha...?" A curly head poked out from under the covers followed by two half-closed blue eyes. "Izstilldark, 'Kashka."

Sulu kissed his head and tucked him back in, "Nothing, Tigger. You can sleep a few more minutes. I'll bring you breakfast."

"Mmkay."

\---

They walked toward the fields, Chekov with a canvas bag over his shoulder that held the chirrit seeds and their tricorder and Sulu with his sword at his side. Rennit arrived from the North side of the field and took long strides toward the two Starfleet officers. There was no preamble to the fight, no salute or greeting, just a wordless yell and a sword rising up to strike. Had Sulu been a half-second slower, Rennit's sword would have taken his head. The blows came not fast, but hard and it was with great difficulty that Sulu repelled the attacks. The other man's sword was much like a claymore, heavy and long, a weapon designed for brute strength more than finesse, and he wielded it with some skill. A small crowd gathered to watch, and while many cheered for Rennit, Elle shouted encouragements at Sulu. "You can do it, Hikaru! For Pavel!" She put her arm around the young Ensign and smiled, "He's doing very well, Pavel!"

Chekov winced as Rennit's sword came down again, pushing Sulu back a step. "Ai!" He was not doing well at all and was only just able to deflect each attack as Rennit pushed him ever backward and then, as though fortune herself had abandoned them, Sulu stepped on a rock and fell flat on his back. "Hikaru!" Elle held Chekov back for a moment, but couldn't restrain him for long. He broke free and pushed Rennit off balance, allowing Sulu time enough to roll back up to an upright stance. Rennit raised his sword as though to bring it down across Chekov's chest, but the cutlass blocked the strike and with renewed ferocity, Sulu began driving the larger man back. They locked swords and while Rennit was focused on his face, Sulu stepped in closer and to one side as Chekov sucked in a breath and held it, anticipating the sweep of the legs that followed.

Sulu caught his breath as he held the cutlass to Rennit's throat, "Pavel. Is. Mine!"

"I am prepared for death." Rennit gritted his teeth, his hatred apparent in the way he spat his words.

"Kill him!" came an anonymous shout from the crowd.

"I'm not killing anyone." He disarmed Rennit and handed his sword to Chekov. "You're to stay away from Pavel, is that understood?"

"Understood." Rennit skulked away and spent the rest of the day planting as far from Chekov and Sulu as possible. The villagers sang and planted, congratulating Sulu with a pat on the back (Elle gave him a rib-cracking hug) while Chekov continued taking readings on the sly.

In the evening, when all the planting was done, there was a great dance in the middle of the field with a chorus of drums and brightly colored ribbons, like May Day, but without the maypole. The songs were of the bawdiest sort and like the night before, there was enough drink to call it a party. Elle drank as much or more than the men, becoming even more affectionate and talkative than usual. "How long until they grow?" Chekov asked, only pleasantly buzzed and sitting on Sulu's lap.

"Lookit the moon, Pavel." She slurred her words as she petted Chekov's head, "It'll be full in four days, but if we don't sing to them, they don't come up. Today, we sing about sex." Chekov's eyes grew wide and the plump woman laughed, "Oh, you know about sex! Tomorrow, we sing about..." she squinted one eye and thought for a moment, "sex. And the next day we sing about..."

"Sex?" Chekov answered.

Elle laughed and bumped against him, nearly knocking him out of Sulu's lap, "No! Of course not! That's absurd. The third night, we sing about having babies - but only the women, you men stay away and do your... man things." She patted both of them on the shoulder, "And the next morning!" She wiggled her fingers and moved them up toward the stars, "Up they come! Now, speaking of man things, don't tell me you want to spend this special night talking to little ol' me. You kids should go have sex." They both gave her a quizzical look, but she shooed them away toward her little cottage and grinned. "Go on! Shoo!"

They both stood up and Sulu wobbled a bit, tugging at Chekov's hand, "C'mon, Tigger. We're guests. We don' wanna offend." Chekov gathered their things and the two lovers stumbled hand-in-hand back to the little cottage where they had been staying.


	7. Germination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They've planted the seeds and now something begins to grow - how's that for vague?

_****__Hikaru, my love, you feel so good... so good....Oh, yes!_ "Da! Oh, Da! Yes, want you more. You are so tight, so good." They moved under the thick blankets, Chekov's back exposed to the cool air as he rocked his body back and forth.

"It's so fucking sexy when you talk dirty in Russian. I want more." Sulu moved beneath him, hands pushing the firm runner's behind toward him. "More, Pavel."

"Okay, Zaichik. I will say filthy things for you." _Your eyes are very pretty, like little acorns. Also,_ he licked Sulu's nipples, holding them between his teeth for a few seconds, _I like your brown nipples. You are brown all over, Bunny-rabbit, beautiful and brown. My brown bunny_.

"God, that's hot." Sulu smiled and held tight to Chekov, pushing him harder into himself, "Harder, Uke. More."

 _You like this, Bunny-rabbit? You like me fucking you? So good, my Hikashka, so tight. I love you, I love you, oh, you feel so good. Come for me, 'Kasha._ He thrust harder until Sulu closed his eyes and opened his mouth, lips and cheeks flushed red. _You come so pretty. I love your face when you come... so pretty_. Chekov moved in hard, slow strokes that increased in speed until the bed knocked against the wall in an obscene rhythm. They panted and grunted together, Sulu spilling himself between them as Chekov continued for another half minute, finally letting himself go with an _oh, fuck me!_

"Do you have any fucking idea how sexy your mouth is?" He handed Chekov a towel and he wiped them both off. "I could get off just watching you talk."

He tossed the towel onto the floor and kissed his lover, latching onto his bottom lip like some sex-hungry parasite. "You would get bored, 'Kasha. I would run out of things to say!"

"Never." They kissed again, snuggling so close together that if it hadn't been for the slight difference in skin color, it would have been almost impossible to tell whose legs where whose. Most of the morning was spent in bed and most of the evening, they sang and danced. During one particularly fast and loud dance, Pavel broke away, eyes wide as though he'd forgotten something. "Where are you going?

"To get...something. We forgot-" He leaned in to whisper, nibbling on Sulu's earlobe, "We forgot to take readings today, 'Kashka"

"Oh, right. Hurry, okay?" They smooched and grinned at each other, Chekov bounding away toward Elle's cottage. He ran straight into Rennit, almost falling down on impact. "Excuse me."

"No." The man was drunk and therefore dangerous. He grabbed Chekov's hair once more and although he tried to knock him off balance, he stayed upright. "I'm taking you for mine, boy."

"Let me go!" Chekov shouted, "I am not for you!"

A broad hand closed around Rennit's wrist, and twisted it back upon itself in a particularly painful way, "Rennit do Inti do Emer do Sama." The voice and the hand belonged to Elle. "You _will_ leave Pavel alone."

"Ah! Elle, I am within my rights. The boy is not yet a man and belongs to no one but the strongest. Let me go you fat whore!" Elle pushed his wrist in more, causing Rennit pain enough that he went to his knees.

"No. Pavel belongs to Hikaru." She held one of her kitchen knives to his throat and he began to sweat in spite of the cool air.

"Elle!" Jal spoke up running toward them with Lirra in tow, "Let him go, Elle. He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Hasn't done anything wrong?!" Elle held tight to Rennit's wrist, "If he'd done the same thing to Lirra, what would you have done?"

"Let him go," Jal insisted.

She held tighter to the man's wrist and Chekov and Sulu could only watch. The Prime Directive prohibited interference with the natural progression of a culture and even though their captain frequently danced a fine jig with Starfleet regulations, Sulu was more cautious. Chekov read the slight furrowing of the brow and an almost imperceptible shake of the head as an order to stand down. He did so and watch things unfold. Rennit was on his knees, his eyes closed tight and tears forming at the corners and there was an unexpected fire behind Elles eyes as she spoke, "Answer me! If he'd done to Lirra what he did to Pavel, you'd kill him. Tell me you wouldn't."

Jal stepped in front of his wife, protecting her out of instinct. "Boys are different, Elle, you know that. I would not be the man today if it weren't for my teachers. Sure, they fought over me, but I turned out alright, didn't I?"

"Pavel is in love with Hikaru. He deserves to be free... The way he looks at the stars... The way he looks at Hikaru... It's the same. It's the same as how you look at Lirra." She relaxed her grip slightly and Rennit tried to pull away, but she tightened it again and he whimpered in pain.

Jal looked at his wife and brushed her fingers with his own. She placed her hand on her husband's shoulder to quiet him and spoke, her voice like milk, "You're right. I've watched them together and they need each other. Rennit, you are to leave the village and never return. Your life was spared once by Hikaru, once by Elle, and I cannot guarantee you will survive a third time. Are we in agreement?" The villagers did not respond, neither in assent or in protest. "I will take your silence as agreement. Pavel, if you go home, you will be sold to the shoemaker's daughter, is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you do not wish to marry her, is that also correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." _Because she is ugly, like the Captain says._ The Prime Directive was remarkably vague on exactly how to deal with a situation such as this, so Chekov played it by ear, simply agreeing to whatever she said.

"Hikaru do Sato, as long as you remain in Delvin, no other may make claim to your student. Are these terms acceptable to you?" Lirra, Chekov thought, would make a good ship's Captain. Though she was perhaps a year or two his junior, she spoke with authority none dared to defy.

"These terms are acceptable." Sulu put an arm around Chekov and they looked into each other's eyes. Chekov saw the stars there, the blackness of space in Sulu's eyes, and could not imagine himself anywhere else.

Lirra approached Elle, took the knife, and loosened her thick fingers from Rennit's wrist. "Leave, now. You have until sunset." Rennit scrambled up and ran like a cowardly dog. She turned to the plump woman, "This doesn't change things, Elle, and it won't bring back Mata."

Sulu shook his head again, a barely noticeable movement that meant "Don't interfere." Chekov inclined his head toward the woman who had been their host. She was on her knees and sobbing and Chekov, who considered himself a gentleman, could not be so cold as to ignore it. Sulu's nod was just as subtle and Chekov grinned and kissed his cheek before going to Elle's side. "Thank you."

She sniffed and blew her nose on her apron, "Here I am, going on again. You must think me a sentimental old woman. Look at the trouble I've caused!"

"No, no, no trouble. You are wvery kind to me and to Hikaru. I am thanking you." She smiled when he touched her arm and then took him into a crushing hug.

Sulu sighed and looked down for a moment, like he was letting something go, "Thanks, Elle."

Chekov sucked in a breath when she released him and let it out again in a laugh when Sulu was embraced. "No, thank you boys."

\---

"Sulu to Enterprise, come in." The communicator crackled and he adjusted the frequency a third time, "Enterprise, this is Sulu, come in."

"This is the Enterprise," Uhura's voice was cheerful and Sulu was relieved to hear it. Chekov clapped his hands and grinned upon hearing her and called out something in Russian. Uhura laughed over the comm, "Hello, Ensign. Lovely to hear your voice as well. I'm patching you through to the Captain."

There was a brief pause and then Kirk's voice, "Your report, Lieutenant?"

"We're almost done here. Give us...three hours and we'll be ready to beam up." Chekov bounced on the bed, and waved his hands about in an unabashed show of excitement.

"Excellent work, Lieutenant. See you in three hours. Kirk out." The comm clicked off and Sulu tossed it into one of their packs. He then straddled Chekov's lap and kissed him until they both fell backwards onto the bed, laughing.

"We do not have time for this, Hikarmmfph!" Sulu kissed him, his fingers tight around Chekov's hair.

"Yes, we do. It will only take us an hour to snag the tricorder, say our goodbyes, and leave town. You sure it's hidden?"

Chekov raised his eyebrows and gave a crooked grin, "Mily Hikarushka, I am surprised at you! I am Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, boy genius Russian wiz-kid, da?"

"Da." Sulu rubbed noses with the giggling Ensign. "What was I thinking? Well, Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, boy genius Russian wiz-kid, you ready to get back to the Enterprise?"

"Yes. When we are old, we can find a little Russian village to retire. It will be like this, but better!" He tilted his head back a little and smooched Sulu's nose, "You can have a little garden and I will grow potatoes."

"You will?" Chekov nodded. "But, Tigger, I don't speak Russian!"

"Nobody is perfect."

\---

"Are you sure you won't stay?" Lirra asked as Elle squeezed Chekov in another hug.

Sulu hefted a bag onto his shoulder and accepted a gentle hug from the young woman, "Yeah. I miss my ship."

"Once a sailor tastes the sea, he'll never be happy on land." She said it like it was an old adage and smiled. "Your Pavel is going with you?"

"Yeah. I think he'll make a fine navigator one day." Chekov scowled at this, but said nothing. Sulu only grinned back at him.

Finally free of Elle's grasp, Chekov grabbed his things and waved goodbye. "Be sure you eat, Pavel, you're still too skinny!" Elle laughed and cried simultaneously. "Hikaru, you take good care of him. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Elle. Thank you for your hospitality. I promise I will eat. Between you and my ba- eh, grandmother, I will become very fat." She gave him a sack of fresh chirrit root, the dirt not yet washed clean. "Thank you."

"One more thing." She took something from her apron and pressed it into Chekov's hand. "They were was Mata's, my son's. I hope you will give one to Hikaru when it's time. Of all the people in the world, you two deserve to be happy and together." He turned the object over and examined it, curious as to its function. Elle clasped the two metal circles around his wrist. Each was impressed with a design that, when aligned, was the image of two vines twined together. "His marriage bracelets. He never got to wear them." Chekov's eyes went wide as did Sulu's. Jal and Lirra were likewise surprised and after an awkward moment or two, Chekov thanked her and they started their journey away from the village.

They walked past the fields, now pale green with sprouts and Sulu took one last sample, scooping up several tiny plants. Underneath them had been the tiny handheld sensor portion of their tricorder, which Chekov had rigged to record and transmit over a distance. He placed the plants in a metal tin from his bag along with the sensor and when they were finally out of sight, they put down their bags and Sulu took the communicator from his pocket. Chekov fiddled with the bracelets, a question rattling around in his mind, as Sulu adjusted the frequency on the communicator. "Enterprise, two to beam up." He felt himself fade away, the familiar tingle of the transporter beam taking him apart and a moment of nothingness as the planet disappeared around them.


	8. It is simple.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikaru + Pavel... it is simple.

His feet pounded the deckplates with a thud-clank as shoes hit carpet and the metal subfloor vibrated against the struts that held it in place. Thud-clank, thud-clank, thud-clank. His heart beat faster than that, the thumping in his chest approximately one and one-half times the frequency of his running pace. The rhythm of it filled his ears like the music he listened to when he was alone, layers upon layers of hard and fast percussion thumping and throbbing so loud the vibration absorbed all thought. He saw the turbolift on his right that marked his starting point and he kept going. _Lap four end, Lap fife begin._ _Pavwel plus Hikaru equals... happy. How is happy defined? Parameters unclear. Happy is... holding me... is... his smile... flying together... being close, kisses, taking care of him when he is unwell... Happiness is in direct relation to proximity. Optimality is achiefed by maintaining proximity. Proximity is maintained by... by maintaining proximity. It is simple._ Someone shouted "Code C!" and got out of the way, but he collided with a woman in red who had been reading a PADD. "Lieutenant Uhura! So sorry! So, so sorry!" He helped her up and they both reached for the dropped PADD, "Please, allow me." He handed her the PADD and smiled, "One more lap and I will be finished."

"Alright, Pavel," she watched as he ran down the corridor, "Don't be late!"

"I will not!" _One more_. It had been several weeks since the end of their mission on Theta 957, and he was glad to have finally settled into his routine, comforted by the structure of ship life. He finished the lap, slowing as he approached his quarters. Sulu had left him a glass of water, two electrolyte tablets (fruit punch flavor), and a note:

Tigger:

Gone to pollinate the orchids - delicate work with a paintbrush. Maybe I'll show you my pollination technique tonight!  
I know where you are ticklish... XD  
Have a good time with Uhura. See you at dinner!

Love,  
-Lt. Zaichik Bunny-Rabbit

P.S. Tomorrow's our day off - plans? Dinner and a movie date?

Sulu always had some post-script or another in spite of the fact that the PADD would have been easy enough to edit with just a touch of the stylus. But there was always an afterthought, always just one more thing, and Chekov wanted to just kiss Sulu for this little quirk and for the redundancy of his signature. He kissed the PADD instead, then grinned at the lip marks, showered, changed, and headed for Uhura's quarters. The Lieutenant was now in her civvies, a long flowing skirt and a short-cropped sleeveless shirt, both white against her dark walnut skin. She looked comfortable and elegant and Chekov suddenly felt underdressed and sloppy. "Hey, Pavel, you ready?"

"Yes. I haf been practicing like you said." He'd been through speech therapy before and by the end of it, people other than his parents could finally understand him. But his speech was not yet perfect and Pavel Andreievich Chekov was determined to be perfect in whatever he set his mind to.

"Alright," they sat in the little desk chairs, leaning in toward one another. It was a position conducive to kissing as he'd discovered when they first met to discuss his speech patterns and he wondered if sitting so close like this was how she came to be in a relationship with Spock. Today, it was strictly professional. They were friends and Chekov's fierce devotion to his lover was more than enough to keep his teenage libido occupied. The temptation was there, especially when she was this close, but he knew that it was only hormonal and he wouldn't ruin what he had with Sulu for anything, not even the beautiful Lieutenant Uhura. "Repeat after me: Victor revolves every revolution very very voluntary."

He concentrated and enunciated carefully, "Victor revwolvwes every revolution vwery vwery vwoluntary."

"Not bad!" Chekov beamed at the praise, but knew the sentences and exercises would become more difficult as they continued. "Now, faster."

"Victor rewolvwes evwery rewolution vwery vwery woluntary." _Not perfect_ , he frowned.

"Again, faster this time and try to see if you can get up to a natural pace, okay?"

"Okay." He took a sharp and determined breath, straightened his posture and stared her down as though he were ready to do battle with this nonsense sentence, "Vwictor rewolvwes evwery revwolution wery wery woluntary - Ai! Chyort voz'mi! I cannot do this! I cannot make my mouth do the sounds without thinking. It is impossible!"

Uhura sat back, her eyes a little wider and one eyebrow up in what looked like an interpretation of the first officer. "What did you say?"

Chekov covered his mouth, embarrassed at himself, "So sorry, Nyota, I did not mean to be so rude! I forget, I'm sorry."

"No, seriously, what did you just say?"

He blushed, thinking about the time he got a hard smack in the back of the head for cursing in front of his mother. "...Chyort voz'mi? It means..."

"I know what it means, Pavel. Listen to what you said." She focused on his lips. It should have made him nervous, but they'd done this so many times now, the urge to smash his face into hers in a kiss was only a faint buzzing in the back of his brain.

He mouthed the words and when he arrived at the "v" sound, he smacked himself in the head, "I am an idiot!"

"You're _not_ an idiot, Mr. Eighteen-year-old Starfleet Officer." Her head waggled a little from side to side and she feigned jealousy with a lopsided smile.

He shook his head and grinned, "Okay, I will try again..." They were at it for another half hour and when they were done, she ended the session with a hug. This was his favorite part. Her hugs were warm and comforting like mama's potato soup and it reminded him that being on the Enterprise was more than just a job and that these were more than just his coworkers. Uhura was a friend and part of this odd and somewhat dysfunctional extended family. "Nyota...have you considered the possibility of maybe sometime getting, uh... What I mean to say is, I haf- I have been thinking about, umm..." His lips tightened as he gathered the courage to say what was on his mind, "What do you think about the idea of marriage?"

"Oh, Pavel! I'm shocked! I'll want a big diamond ring and a big wedding with a thousand guests and my mother will want to make the dress of course, and a big five-tiered wedding cake..." He scowled, she smirked, "So you're not proposing to me?" She leaned on the desk, head in her hand and big brown eyes batting innocently, "And here I was looking forward to being Mrs. Nyota Chekov-Uhura."

"It would be Uhura-Chekov, and you are making fun." He crossed his arms and mock-pouted as she laughed.

They grinned at each other. Their friendship had become comfortable enough for teasing and she took every advantage to do so. He imagined that this was what it would have been like to have a big sister. "I'm sorry, Pavel. You thinking about popping the question to Hikaru?"

He shook his head, "No, no, no, it is too early. I am only asking what you think of it, eh... in general terms, conceptually. I do not want to ask Dr. McCoy."

"That makes sense, he's biased," she agreed.

"It is not that," Chekov rubbed his neck, remembering the last time he'd gone for advice from the ship's doctor, "It is just that he always gives me some kind of immunization when I go." He slowed on the word "gives," stressing the "v."

Uhura chuckled at this and touched his arm, "I promise I'll only cause you psychological pain." Chekov smiled and rolled his eyes as she considered her advice. "Marriage is a partnership, two people working together to make a one life out of two. If you think you can do that, then I'm all for it. Personally, I think you two are meant for each other, but you've got all the time in the world to decide."

"So, it is like an equation, then? Two parts to balance to make one." He'd already decided that this made the most sense to him. He thought of his parents and how his father's stubbornness balanced his mother's sometimes curt tongue. She was hard lines and angles, he was soft and round (especially around the middle), and somehow they'd made it work for more than two decades. But he did not have all the time in the world. He had a little more than four years, which was not long enough. Maybe they would be reassigned, maybe they would not, but solid equations were not constructed on maybes.

"You could think of it that way, I suppose." He thanked her and after another soft hug, he made his way to the mess hall, the simple equation of Hikaru + Pavel rattling around in his head.


	9. It's not that simple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pros and Cons of marriage by ~~Charles Darwin~~ Hikaru Sulu.

_****_Lt. Kevin Riley lay on the grass as Sulu misted a particularly delicate orchid, "If two people love each other as much as you and Pavel _obviously_ do, you should just do it. No reason not to."

He put down the spray bottle and took his paintbrush to the next plant, a steady hand touching the very tip of the brush to the sticky sack of pollen. "It's not that simple. He's only just eighteen and we've been dating, what, six months? I was with George for two years before we even thought about it and... I dunno, Kev." Sulu made a slit in the pouch-shaped petal of another bloom and slowly inserted the paintbrush. When pollen sack touched the stigma and stuck, he eased the paintbrush out again and tagged the blossom with a note.

"My mother was nineteen when she married my father. He was..." Riley squinted an eye and looked at the ceiling like he was counting in his head, "twenty-two."

Sulu picked up the spray bottle again and gave his fellow helmsman a confused look, "I thought you said you were raised in an orphanage."

"I was," he explained. "Sisters of Mercy orphanage in Saskatchewan. Don't let the name fool you. My parents died when I was twelve, so I remember a lot about how they were."

"Oh." He'd lost his own father when he was ten, but the loss was a distant thing. Lieutenant Sato Sulu simply never came home. "I'm sorry."

Riley smiled and shrugged, "It's okay. It was a long time ago - and you're changing the subject. Are you aren't you going to ask him?"

"I dunno, Kev. I mean, you see this orchid here? This one used to be pollinated by a species of wasp that's now extinct. The male wasp emerged before the female and, in the absence of a female wasp to mate with, it would attempt to copulate with this flower."

His eyes went wide as he sat up to get a closer look at the blossom, "There's something inherently wrong about that, you know."

"It's called coevolution. It even looks like a wasp. See?" He used his paintbrush as a pointer and indicated the parts of the blossom. "Here's the head, the the thorax, and the abdomen. The male would land here, attempt to copulate, and rub up against this thing here where the pollen sac is."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're coming on to me."

"Bitch, please," Sulu scoffed, "I know I'm the best pilot you'll ever have the privilege of sharing a helm with, but you are _not_ my type."

Riley smiled like the cocky Irishman he was, "Oh, is that so, Mr. Left on the Parking Brake?"

"You gonna bring that up every time?" Riley nodded, "Well, we wouldn't be standing here now if I hadn't been a little nervous and a lot distracted by the cute guy sitting next to me. Besides, I like 'em with brains."

"Ooh, ouch." Riley sucked in a breath through his teeth and squinched up his face. "That hurts, Hikaru. That really hurts."

"Anyway, the point is that it took millions of years for the wasp and the flower to evolve together like that. People take time, too. I'm just thinking that it would be better to take it slow, get to know each other, evolve together, as it were." He continued tending his orchids, pollinating them, wiping the dust from their leaves, giving them just enough moisture. "A lot can happen in five years. He might find some girl with crazy math skills or something."

"Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen yourselves together? No. You haven't." He laced his fingers together behind his head and leaned back, "When you two are at the helm, it's like you're telepathic or something. He so much as thinks a course correction and you're on it. You move, he reacts, and vice versa. It's uncanny is what it is. You're like... salt and pepper, cabbage and potatoes..."

"You're making me hungry." Sulu cleaned up his tools and put them in the alcove for next time. These living, breathing things were thriving under his care, but as much love as he put into tending them, they gave back in equal measure. They were beautiful, flowering in every color in the artificial sun, giving him more seeds to plant, and if he wasn't careful, he'd take this metaphor too far. Chekov was no delicate flower, but he planned on giving him far more attention than even his most prized and rare orchids. He'd be done with Uhura by now and was probably waiting in the mess hall. "C'mon, Kev, let's head down to the galley. I'm starved."

Halfway there, he was stopped by Lieutenants Herlihy and Blum. They were waving a PADD at him and pointing at something that looked like Klingon writing had a love child with Vulcan script and it vomited onto the screen. Herlihy was especially excited. "Sulu! So glad I found you! Can you tell what this says? I think we've figured out how to cultivate the darn things, but we can't read this writing."

He took the PADD, turned it around a few times, and handed it back to the two botanists as he shrugged, "I have no idea, that looks like Pavel's handwriting. I don't even think it's in English."

"Do you know where we can find him?" Blum asked, hopeful.

Sulu nodded in the direction of the officers' mess, "I'm on my way to meet him in the mess hall." They found Chekov sitting at a table with Scotty, waving his hands around in what was either some complicated space-time theory or a comparison of Russia and Scotland.

"...and do you know what they used?! Pencils! Typical Russian solution." Chekov slammed his hands on the table, rattling the dishes as he made his final point, and then grinned bright as a supernova at Sulu, "Oh, hello, Hikaru! I got you a tray."

"Hey, Pavel. Blum and Herlihy want to ask you about the note you made on our mission." He touched Chekov on the shoulder and sidled up next to him on the bench, just a little closer than absolutely necessary. It wasn't a kiss, but there was a limit to how open the Ensign was with his affection.

Chekov took the PADD and cocked his head to one side, "It says, 'sing to plants.' The universal translator could not read it?"

"We, uh, tried that first." Herlihy bit his lip, "It couldn't read your handwriting. But now that we know what it says, it makes the rest of our findings make a lot more sense! I was doing a little cleaning up in the lab and..."

"He was singing." Blum added, grinning at his partner. "What was that song?"

"'Requiem for a Toaster' by Baltar's Betrayal. I happen to like that band." Herlihy scowled, but only for a moment. Remembering their discovery, he gestured wildly as he explained. "So, the Thetan turnips you brought back had been looking like they weren't going to make it and Blum here was convinced it was going to shrivel up and die like all the others, but I was to the part that goes 'By your command/ shoot 'em in the head/ shoot 'em in the head,' when I noticed they'd perked up."

"I know this song!" Chekov interjected, "It is best to play it vwery loud."

Blum frowned, "So he tells me."

Herlihy rolled his eyes and continued, "As I was saying, I took some cells and examined them under the 'scope and found that they are sensitive to sound. The chloroplasts undergo the usual light-dependent reactions, but there's an additional receptor that we think may be responsible for a sound-dependent reaction!"

"You know what that means, Pavel?" Sulu put his hand on Chekov's knee and the Ensign shook his head, "It means you're a genius."

"Of course!" He laughed, "Pavel Andreievich Chekov, boy genius - you did not know already?"

Later that evening, Sulu climbed out of bed, unable to sleep. He watched the breath moving in and out of Chekov's naked body and pressed a kiss to the sharp curve of his shoulder. He did not wake or even stir, but mumbled something incomprehensible into the pillow. Sulu smiled at this, wondering what dreams his genius boyfriend had. _Math and planets, stars and equations, probably_... _or Russia. I bet he dreams of Russia._ He sat in one of the little desk chairs and took a PADD from the table, remembering something about Charles Darwin he'd heard in one of his introductory biology classes. He was a constant note-taker and list-maker, even going so far as to compile a list of the pros and cons of marriage. Sulu tapped the stylus on the edge of the PADD as he considered his own list.

Pros:  
-Constant companionship  
-Someone to love and be loved by

Those had been on Darwin's list, too, but Sulu chose to leave off the part that said "better than a dog."

-More likely to be on the same ship if reassigned  
-Children? He would make pretty babies - we'd have to find a surrogate...  
-Someone to help in the garden when we retire  
-If anything ever happened to me... He could take care of things for me (but I'm leaving my orchids to Spock)  
-Best. Navigator. Ever. No one in the universe I'd rather fly with.  
-Fantastic sex.

Cons:  
-He's barely eighteen  
-I'm his first  
-Very little in common except work e.g. music, religion, interests  
-Children? Pavel will want kids, but Kids + career in Starfleet= difficult

 _Crap, now he's got_ me _thinking in equations!_

-what if he gets bored with me?  
-he might accidentally kill my plants

Sulu saved the notes in his personal log and set the PADD aside. Everything against asking seemed like a lame excuse. _He's barely eighteen, but we don't have to get married right away. We can be engaged for as long as we want. Hell, we're practically engaged now. I'm his first, but he's my first too, in a way. He's the first one I've trusted enough to take control.We're different, but that's what I love about us._ "I love us. I love you, Pavel, and I'd rather have you than the rarest orchid in existence. But... it's just not that simple."

Chekov rolled over, stretching his toes and scratching his butt, but he did not wake up. Instead, he flopped one hand over where Sulu usually slept and mumbled what sounded like "yat'blublu kshka."

Sulu straightened the sheets and crawled back into bed, placing Chekov's arm around his waist. "I love you, too," he whispered, "and I'll get back to you about my list. I just hope it works as well for me as it did for Darwin."


	10. Coevolved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chekov and Sulu are so good together, working as one seamless unit until...

>Entering heading 114.6

[Navigation] correct heading: mark 4  
>heading corrected, mark 4.  
>impulse at 60%, engage.  
>pitch 15º, roll starboard 20º  
>in position to fire in 3, 2, 1  
>in position  
[Navigation] Firing forward phaser banks, 5sec burst  
[Navigation] Fire - 4, 3, 2, 1  
[Navigation] Cease fire  
[Navigation] Enemy advancing, laying in heading 118.3  
[Navigation] Proceed at impulse 58%  
> 118.3 acknowledged  
[Navigation] heading correction to compensate for drift: 118.7  
>mark 7 confirmed, impulse 58%, engage  
>in position to fire in 3, 2, 1  
>in position  
[Navigation] Firing forward phaser banks, 2 3sec bursts  
[Navigation] Fire - 2, 1  
[Navigation] Fire - 2, 1  
[Navigation] Cease fire  
[Navigation] Enemy turning portside, laying in heading 159.6  
[Navigation] Enemy nacells exposed, Torpedo bays 4 and 6 armed, position to disable  
[Navigation] Correct heading 162.5  
>awaiting order  
>I'm going to try something, be ready to fire  
>in position to fire in 3, 2, 1  
>fire when ready  
[Navigation] Torpedo bays 4 and 6 - Fire  
[Navigation] Target disabled  
[Navigation] Confirm hit?  
[Science] Hit confirmed, target disabled

[Ens. Chekov, P.] Bozhe moy! you will give me heart attacks!!  
>worked, didn't it?  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] yes, but I think I was so scared I lost five years of my life!  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] at this rate, I will be dead by 20!  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] Do not do things like that again!  
>they say sex adds three years of life...  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] At this rate, I will live forever.  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] Like vampire, sucking your  
>PAVEL!!  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] blood - what are you thinking? you have a filthy mind. I should not take you home to mama.  
>Captain is captaining, pay attention  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] acknowledged  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] Do you have any 3's?  
>PAVEL!! Pay attention!  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] Sorry!  
>Go fish.  
>Enemy on screen now, try to look menacing  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] DO NOT MAKE ME GRIN IN FRONT OF THE KLINGON COMMANDER!! I AM VERY SERIOUS!!  
>Do you have any 5's?  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] What is the captain talking about? Go fish.  
>no idea. We're just ornamental at this point. any Jacks?  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] I am doing important tactical things, can you see? [J] 3's?  
>I see your important tactical things.  
>you already asked for 3's. Go fish.  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] New heading 005.8  
[Ens. Chekov, P.] Oops!

[Navigation] laying in heading 005.8  
[Navigation] proceed at warp factor 3  
>005.8 acknowledged, warp factor 3, engage

\---

They proceeded to their room after shift without delay. Today was Sunday and they'd declared it "Intergalactic Pavel and Hikaru's room-cleaning day." Kirk wasn't big on inspections, but a clean living area meant a better environment for relaxing and it had become a weekly ritual that they both enjoyed. Sulu made the bed, tucking in clean sheets so that they were spread tight and smooth across the bed and then neatly folding the top part of the comforter down. Chekov gathered the pile of dirty uniforms and socks, stuffing them all into the laundry chute two or three items at a time. Sulu wadded up the dirty pillowcases and chucked them in Chekov's direction. He caught them without looking and tossed them in with a particularly vile pair of socks he wore when running. They watered the plants and Chekov paused to say something encouraging to his tiny little spider plant as Sulu wiped the dust from the violet-fringed leaves of something he'd acquired on their last shore leave. "What did you say to it today?"

"I told her she was looking vwery green today and that she should not worry that the other plants are bigger. She will grow big too." Sulu smiled, glad that the little gift he'd given him for his birthday brought out the sweet and nurturing part of the man he loved so much. He hoped to see many more years of this and the image of his lover as a father flashed through his head. He'd be nurturing, protective, loving, everything a father is supposed to be. He came back to the present when Chekov smiled back and they continued their work, wiping down all the surfaces, organizing the various PADDs and data tapes laying around, and then proceeding to the bathroom. Chekov washed the sink, Sulu took care of the toilet, and in spite of the fact that their "sanitation area" was barely big enough for one person, they managed to move around each other in a way that maximized the efficiency of their cleaning efforts. By the time they were finished and ready to key in the code for floor-cleaning, the whole place was shining and spotless.

\---

Pressed together between the crisp, clean sheets, they moved together in waves, Sulu's left hand on Chekov's muscled runner's behind and his right on his lover's erection, tugging and stroking as they thrusted against each other. The long fingers of Chekov's left hand pressed into the tight spot in Sulu's back, soothing the place where tension always settled while his right hand worked in even strokes that did not match, but complimented Sulu's slow, strong rhythm. As the first tingle of release prickled over Sulu's skin, he bit down on Chekov's collarbone, just hard enough to make him make that sound and lose his English. The fast and slurred Russian sounded filthy, as always, and activated whatever part in his brain it was that made his eyes roll back into his head, open his mouth, and grunt like some preverbal hominid. Chekov flushed a delicate pink like a cherry blossom, but his strong legs and firm hold suggested nothing of fragility. He closed his mouth and exhaled sharp breaths through his nose as they maintained eye contact, blue reflecting brown in the few moments before he cried out as the blessed catharsis of orgasm washed over him. They cleaned up and kissed, turning so that Sulu could put one hand under the pillow and the other over Chekov's heart. "Spokoynaya noch', Zaichik," Chekov mumbled between yawns as they held hands.

"G'night, Tigger." Chekov fell asleep like a computer terminal that had been shut down. There were a few moments of wakeful inactivity and then his breaths came slow and even. Sulu took longer, consciously releasing the tension in his body from the toes upward, muscle group by muscle group until his face relaxed and smoothed and he settled into the heavy pull of sleep, listening to Chekov breathe.

\---

Their morning routine flowed as easily as it always did, a fine-tuned sequence of events that prepared them for duty. Sulu woke first, two minutes before the alarm chirped, climbed out of bed, disabled the alarm, and plugged in the appropriate data tapes for coffee: cream, four sugars and green tea: hot. Chekov lay sprawled out over most of the bed, comforter kicked off and sheets twisted around his ankles. Sulu patted Chekov's naked butt and kissed his ear. "Good morning, Tigger."

"Nnnmkynhyhghspyatmeenutnghzaichik..." He rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.

"No, you can't have five more minutes. I have coffee. C'mon, Tigger, kofia for you!" After eight and a half months, he'd learned a few important things in Russian for these sleepy moments before the English-speaking part of his lover's brain was not yet awake. He'd also learned a few words never to say to Mama Chekov, but it was not the time for those. They sipped and discussed the day to come and when their cups were empty, Sulu pulled at Chekov's wrists to get him out of bed, "Now we practice."

"But, Hikarushka," he complained, "it is so early and I am sleepy."

Sulu pulled harder and grinned, "C'mon, it's more fun with two - can't do it without you."

"Okay, okay, okay." Chekov rubbed his face, took a pair of running shorts from his drawer, and positioned himself to begin the kata. They moved together through the forms with ease like they were two parts of the same machine. When they were done, both went to the sanitation area to continue preparing for their day. Chekov showered first while Sulu shaved and brushed his teeth and they kissed before changing places. They dressed together and kissed again, this time long and slow, before heading to the officer's mess. "Love you, 'Kashka."

"Love you, Tigger." Breakfast was coffee, pancakes, and a fruit compote of unknown composition and Sartori stacked a couple extra pancakes onto Chekov's plate. They reported for duty, ready to work side by side in perfect concert to fight or fly as needed.

\---

Four hours into their shift, the Enterprise received orders to pursue a stolen passenger craft. "Crew of the Aurora," Kirk ordered, standing with his hands on his hips, looking annoyed as much as authoritarian, "You are ordered to come about and surrender."

"They're not responding to hails, Captain." Uhura continued her attempts at reaching the craft, but to no avail.

"Keep trying, Uhura. Patch me through on all channels." He crossed his arms and scowled at the image on the screen. "Aurora, This is your final warning. Come about and surrender or we will be forced to board you." He signalled to Uhura to cut the transmission and sat back in the Captain's chair. "Give 'em a warning shot across the nose and move in to tractor beam range."

"Aye, sir." Chekov and Sulu acknowledged simultaneously and, as ordered, shot a short phaser burst across the top of the craft, close enough to be noticed, but not so close as to cause damage. Sulu maneuvered the Enterprise closer and engaged the tractor beam, trapping the little vessel. Still it struggled against them, stressing the engines of the small craft far beyond specs. "Their coolant system has failed," Chekov checked his console, "and their engines will explode in less than one minute unless they shut down immediately."

"All channels, Uhura. Crew of the Aurora, shut your engines down, now! Your warp core is overheated and will explode in thirty seconds unless you comply!"

"Twenty seconds, Captain!" Spock looked up from his console and counted down the few seconds left in the life of the crew of the small craft.

"Chekov, beam them out, NOW!" He accessed control of the transporters from helm and locked in on what signals he could discern in the few seconds that remained. The bridge crew was silent for the few seconds it took to buffer six patterns and rematerialize them in one of the transporter rooms on deck 5 as the small ship exploded close enough to the Enterprise to shake her hull.

"There are six people. Transporter room three, sir." Sulu glanced over at Chekov and worried at the tension in his jaw.

"Security to Transporter room three," Kirk ordered.

Uhura turned to face the Captain, "I have the passenger manifest, sir. Six crew members total," Chekov relaxed a little.

"Names?"

"Dr. H. Sevrin," she read the names from her console as the rest of the bridge crew only half-listened and performed their assigned tasks. "Tongo Rad, Adam Napier, Mavig Downey, Phillys Douglass, and Irina Galliulin."

Chekov perked up at the last name as Kirk rolled his eyes and continued to be annoyed at the situation. "Great. A well-known crackpot and the Catullan ambassador's son. Could this day get any worse?" He cocked an eyebrow at Chekov's sudden change in posture. "You okay, Ensign?"

"I..." He blinked his eyes the same way he did when waking up, "I think I know one of them, sir. Irina... Eh, Miss Galliulin. We were in Academy together."

Kirk paused to consider this, "Alright, you're with me. Spock, you have the bridge."


	11. Containment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirk speaks space-hippie, Bones is a square cat, Sulu gets mad and Irina is trouble. Of course Pavel Chekov is in the middle of it all. Misery was inwented in Russia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to kadollan for the beta!

_****_ Kirk stopped outside the transporter room and relaxed his stance before entering. McCoy was already there, hypospray in hand and jabbed the nozzle into Kirk's neck as soon as he stepped in. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't be such a baby," he groused. "It's a booster for  _Synthococcus novae_ . I want these people quarantined until I can get everyone's immunizations updated. C'mon, Chekov, you too." He pressed the hypo into Chekov's neck and after a brief burning sensation, the medicine coursed through his veins unnoticed. "These people won't let me near them with a hypo. I explained that it was for their own good, but they absolutely refuse to allow me to treat them!"

"We don't want Herbert's medicines, man," the tall, poufy-haired one stood up. "I don't need that jack in my veins to feel good."

Kirk gave McCoy a reassuring look as Chekov watched. There was Irina, wearing next to nothing and sitting at the feet of some žoporóžec in robes and she didn't even recognize him, or notice... or seem to care. "Don't worry, Bones, I got this." Kirk approached the poufy-haired hippie, glanced at the egg-shaped pin on the scant strip of fabric that could barely be called a shirt, and formed a triangle with the thumbs and forefingers of both hands. "Hey, man, I ain't no Herbert." Chekov and McCoy looked at each other, astonished. "I reach. I'm like you - one. We are one." 

The hippie smiled and nodded his head, making the triangle with his fingers, "One is the beginning."

"All my man Bones wants to do is make sure nobody gets sick. People get sick, Herbert's gonna put you in a box. I know what you're thinkin'." Kirk put one arm around the poufy-haired guy and pointed to himself, "You're thinkin' this dude's a Herbert, but he don't know it. But you got  _yourself_ in a box, man. I'm just a guy, right? I do my own thing, make Herbert think I'm playing the game. Bones is a good guy - a little straight in the spine, but he's alright. You let him look you over, give you a stick in the neck and it's done. Let Herbert  _think_ you're playing his game and we'll get you where you need to go, you reach?" Kirk made the triangle with his hands again and the poufy-haired hippie returned the gesture with a smile.

"Yeah, man, I reach." Then, much to the bewilderment of every officer and enlisted man in the room, the Captain hugged the man and the six members of the Aurora followed the security detail to sickbay.

"Jim?" McCoy's eyebrows were in fine form and they looked as though they would crawl right off of his head like two brown caterpillars.

"What?" He shrugged and straightened his posture again, "I spent a year on a commune in Tennessee. You just gotta speak their language. Comm me when you're done or if you have any problems." McCoy shook his head in apparent disbelief and followed the gaggle of hippies to sickbay. Chekov was still bewildered by the whole encounter and watched Irina until she was entirely out of sight. "You alright, C? Still in shock 'cause I speak space-hippie?"

"No, sir. Well, yes, sir, but..." They started back toward the bridge, Chekov deliberately slowing his pace to keep stride with Kirk. "Irina did not say 'Hello' to me. I do not think she evwen recognized me."

"You were what,  _twelve_ when you joined the Academy?"

"Thirteen, sir. I was in my fourth year when the Narada attacked Wulcan."

"And how long has it been since you've seen her?"

"Three years, sir."

"So, last time she saw you, you were fifteen years old. You've been through a lot since then and you probably do look different. I mean, you've  _physically_ changed. Why don't you go see her after shift and say hello to her properly? I'm sure Dr. McCoy won't mind." He gave Chekov a friendly pat on the back and as they walked back to the bridge, the Ensign thought of what to say to her after so long. He was angry, hurt, glad to see her, and curious about what she'd been doing the past three years. 

"Yes, sir. I will do that." The remainder of his shift was relatively uninteresting and primarily consisted of the Captain conversing with a rather harried Dr. McCoy in their joint attempts to control the unruly crew of the Aurora. 

[Lt. Sulu, H.] So... hippies?   
> What is the meaning of "hippies?"   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] Um, slackers? flower children? boomers? antiestablishmentarianists? Bohemians?   
> No Bohemians. Irina is from St. Petersburg.   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] I meant in the nonconformist sense of the word   
> Ah. I know "nonconformist." Bohemia is a place. Near Moravia, Poland, Germany - not as nice as Russia.   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] And your friend?   
> she is from St. Petersburg, not Bohemia. I told you.   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] I meant to ask if she was glad to see you   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] You're making a face   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] She wasn't glad to see you?   
> she did not even say "hello"   
> Captain says it is because I look different   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] Your shoulders are broader than when we met, and I think you're taller.   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] I like it. You're handsomer every day.   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] What's wrong? You're making a face again   
> I am fine.    
> I am going to see her after shift. Come with me?   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] Sure. I'd love to meet her.   
> Dr. McCoy will give you a shot.   
[Lt. Sulu, H.] I'll consider that fair warning.

They took the turbolift to deck five, walked the short distance to sickbay, and when the door whooshed open, there was a noise that could only be described as a cacophonous ruckus that poured out behind an irritated Dr. McCoy and an exasperated Nurse Chapel. "You!" McCoy shouted at a med tech that was grooving to the music, "Brent! Get back to work or I'll have you on bedpan duty for a year!" He picked up a hypo, checked it and made an adjustment before yelling over his shoulder, "And don't let me catch you here after shift, either!" He pressed the nozzle into Sulu's neck and jabbed a thumb in the direction of the noise. "I don't reckon you need any help finding your friend."

"Thank you, Doctor." They were in a corner, singing about paradise and playing odd-shaped instruments. Irina clapped her hands and sang along and after a minute or so, even Sulu was caught up in the music. When the song ended, Chekov called out, "Irina! It is Pavel Chekov, remember me?"

"Pavel?" Her eyes brightened and she smiled. He always thought of her as pretty - no not "pretty." She was more like the steamy hot kind of woman that could keep a man warm in a Siberian winter and he had, in truth, spent many a private moment in the Academy masturbating to the thought of her face and the idea of her long hair on his skin. He hadn't had much time then for sex or relationships, but managed a wank every so often when his thoughts drifted too far from his beloved numbers and too close to her. "Pavel Andreievich?! Is that you?" She jumped up and hugged him with her whole body, soft breasts pressed against his chest and a shapely leg wrapped around him. "Oh, Pavel, it's so good to see you! I missed you so much." She spoke in Russian, too fast for any but a native (and possibly Lieutenant Uhura) to understand. "How have you been? Are your parents well? Look at you, an officer on the Enterprise- they must be so proud!" Chekov blushed and sputtered at the sudden contact, gently restoring her to the middling parts of his personal space. She looked him over, her eyes pausing on his crotch where he'd reacted to the memory of her and the way she wrapped around him. "My, how you have grown.  I hardly recognized you, Pavel, so tall and handsome now. "

"Please, Irina- English. My friend does not speak Russian." He straightened himself out and tried to look like the mature Starfleet officer he was instead of the skinny boy he had been when she last saw him. "Irina, this is Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, he is my roommate. Hikaru, this is Miss Irina Galliulin. We were in Academy together first and second year."

"Without Pavel," she draped an arm across his chest and looked into his eyes, "I would never have passed basic Physics."

He attempted to step back from her a little and beneath his calculations,  _Probability of meatloaf: 68%, probability Hikaru will like her... dropping_ , was an undercurrent of his papa's voice urging him to always be respectful and polite to women. "When you are released from quarantine, I would be honored if you would join us for dinner. We have much catching up to do."

"Of course! I look forward to it." She kissed Chekov's cheek and extended a hand to Sulu. "I am eager to learn more about your friend. It was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant." 

He didn't look happy, but took her hand and put on a polite smile anyway. "The pleasure is mine." She returned Sulu's gesture with a cat's grin on her lips and a scheming look in her eye and as they took their leave, Chekov glanced back once before the door to sickbay closed behind them. Sulu dropped the façade in the turbolift, his usually pleasant face now tight and crumpled in the wrong places, "Your  _roommate?_ "

Chekov winced, embarrassed at his poor choice of words. "I'm sorry! I did not want to upset her or shock her with such news. Things are different where we are from, you would not understand."

" _Would_ not or  _can_ not? Maybe I'm not a 'wiz kid' like you, but I  _get_ that things are a little different in Russia. Is it that I'm male? Because if you haven't noticed, she's a fucking  _hippie_ for God's sake. They're not exactly known for their conservative views on sex." He scoffed, "You've got feelings for her."

"Yes, but-"

Sulu shook his head, "I should have known."

 _Blijad!_ Irina had been trouble at the Academy and all that had changed were her clothes.


	12. Outbreak 1 of 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley talks some sense into Sulu.

Sulu stomped down the corridor toward Riley's quarters, irritated, frustrated, and more than just a little hurt by what Chekov had said. He chimed the door and when it opened, a sound not unlike a cat in a blender spilled out into the hall. "C'mon in, Sulu. You're just in time to hear them play _Cliffs of Dooneen_ \- it's a classic!" Sulu rubbed his temples and sat on top of one of the little tables as Riley chatted. "Of course, _Danny Boy_ is the quintessential Irish song. I'll play it for you later."

"Yeah," Sulu concentrated on the next two breaths to gain some composure. "That'd be great."

"What's the matter? You look like someone airlocked your favorite orchid." He turned the music, if it could be called that, down to a volume more conducive to conversation. "Did something happen with Pavel?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"If there's one thing the Irish know, it's heartache." He reached into a cabinet and produced a bottle of clear liquid, "I've got some of Scotty's second best stuff to drown your sorrows."

"Nah," Sulu shook his head and waved off the offering of booze, "I just need to talk."

Riley returned the bottle to its cabinet, "So talk. What's on your mind?"

"I'm hella pissed right now. We went to see his friend in sickbay, right? She's one of the hippies we picked up." Riley nodded, "And he introduces me as his roommate. His _roommate_ , Riley. Not only that, but she was all over him - and does he do anything? No."

Riley rubbed the back of his head, "Gee, Sulu. I don't know what to say. It sounds pretty bad. Who is this girl anyway?"

"She's some Russian chick he knew from the Academy."

"Aah, I see." Riley's winsome smile suggested he had some good ol' Irish wisdom as usual, "You've been bitten by the green-eyed monster. Jealousy's unbecoming of a gentleman such as yourself, Sulu, and I suggest you march right back to him and tell him you're sorry. It's not his fault the girl's into free love and skimpy clothing. Hell, I've considered getting myself an old ship and a big bag of brown rice and going to find a better way. Just my luck, I found Starfleet instead." Sulu laughed. Between his Irish best friend and his Russian boyfriend, there were enough bottles of booze and tales of woe to last him a lifetime. "I'm serious! Hey, d'ya think she'd be interested in a handsome young Irishman?"

He seemed sincere but Sulu couldn't help laughing a little, "Why, do you know any? I might be in the market for a new boyfriend."

Riley's scowl was unconvincing and decidedly non-threatening, another thing he had in common with Chekov. "Don't even joke about that. You're in love with Pavel and you know it. Besides, I'm not your type. I like women."

Sulu was joking like he always did, but the joke wasn't very funny today. The prospect of losing Pavel was real and he didn't want to think about it. "What happened to Yeoman Flexible?"

"Barrows?" Riley rolled his eyes, "Yoga classes are a success- I can touch my toes, but it seems she's not interested in the likes of me. She's seeing someone in Security."

"That's too bad." Sulu closed his eyes and sighed. The thought of Pavel seeing someone else was persistent and terrible. "What am I gonna do, Riley? Yeah, I love Pavel more than anything, but what if I'm just fooling myself? What if she's better for him. I mean, I know, like, three words in Russian and two of them I can't say in front of his mother."

"What's the other one?"

"I'm not saying."

Riley insisted, "C'mon, tell me."

Sulu shook his head, "No."

"Please?"

"You'll laugh."

"C'mon, Sulu, I'm your best friend."

"I know." Riley did the big puppy eyes and, like it always had with Chekov, it worked. "Alright, fine. It's 'zaichik.' It means bunny-rabbit. It's his pet name for me." His best friend stifled a laugh for a few moments and then guffawed. "Laugh it up, asshole."

Riley wiped the tears from his eyes and tried to compose himself. "Can I ask what you call him?"

Sulu relinquished with a heavy sigh, knowing his friend would keep at it 'til he caved. "I call him Tigger."

"As in Pooh Bear and-?"

"Yeah." He pointed an accusing finger at Riley. "If you tell _anyone_ , I'm putting sex pollen in your cheerios."

"You're bluffing. There's no such thing as 'sex pollen.'" Sulu gave him the scowl of death. "You're not bluffing." He shook his head, scowl of death still in place as Riley played at being afraid. "I wasn't going to tell anyway. Besides, we on the _Enterprise_ fear your ninja skills."

Sulu relaxed a little. Thoughts of Pavel came and went like ghosts at Hallowe'en, but Riley's jovial demeanor kept him in the here and now. "Samurai are way cooler than ninja, and besides, I'd rather be a Musketeer any day of the week."

"See? You're perfect for each other. That's what I've been trying to tell you! You can be Athos and he's D'Artagnan, fighting side-by-side during the day and having a steamy love affair at night."

"Wait, you slash the Three Musketeers? What's wrong with you?"

Riley looked puzzled. "You mean you don't?"

"No!"

"Well, anyway, you're changing the subject. Tell me what you love about Chekov."

Sulu allowed his mind to fill with thoughts of Chekov, warm and sweet, and for a few moments, he chose to forget he was angry. "He's so... hot. Damn, Riley, that mouth - I could just watch him talk all day long. He could read the Bay Area directory and it would be the sexiest thing ever. And his soft little curls..." Riley's eyes went wide. "On his head, you pervert." He nodded as though he understood and gestured for Sulu to continue. "Anyway, I love running my fingers through his hair. I love how he doesn't even speak English before coffee, how he bounces when he's excited or nervous, how he talks to his little spider plant to make it grow. He's scary smart, too. I mean, I'm no slacker - I speak Spanish, French, and German and I've got a degree in Biology, specializing in xenobotany. But his brain is made of math and physics that I can't even begin to comprehend."

Riley thought for a moment, "Weren't you top of the class in astrophysics?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Go on."

After another heavy and forlorn sigh, Sulu continued, "I don't know, man, I just..." He threw his hands up, frustrated and ready to give up, "I thought he was _the one_ , y'know? I thought George was the one, too, but there's something more there with Pavel. I didn't think it was possible to love someone that much, but I do and I feel like such a dick because I want him all to myself."

"You are a dick, but that's not why. If you just walk away, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life. Like Sister Mary Kathrine always said, 'A little fire that warms is better than a big fire that burns.' This hippie chick is a big fire, but she's not the one who's going to keep him warm at night. That's you, my friend, and you'd better go get that braniac of yours and show him how much you love him before it's too late." Riley stood up, grabbed Sulu's arm and led him to the door. "Now get out of here."

"Alright, alright, I'm gone." They exchanged manly pats on the arm, "Thanks, Riley. You're a life-saver." Sulu's walk toward his quarters was far more pleasant than the walk away had been. If he did this right, he'd go in, apologize, and then they'd kiss and have cuddle time. If he was lucky, they'd have fantastic make-up sex. He was grinning at the idea of it when he keyed in the code to open the door, but the good feeling didn't last. Anger welled up and escalated into rage when he saw Irina sitting on Chekov's lap, their lips pressed together in a passionate kiss. He turned on his heels to walk away again, too angry to talk to anyone. He headed for the exercise room and when he heard Chekov's footsteps behind him, he only walked faster.

"Please, Hikashka, it is not what you think!"


	13. Outbreak 2 of 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It really isn't what it looks like. Chekov finds it easier to communicate how he feels about Irina in Russian.

Chekov keyed in the code to his quarters and flopped down face first onto their bed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Aaaaugh! Why," he said to the empty room, "is it that I can calculate exactly where the ship will be when she comes out of warp, but I say exactly the wrong thing to Hikaru? I am such an idiot!" He thought back to his days at the Academy, hours studying advanced physics courses, grey days in the library, and Irina. His first semester he'd tested out of the freshman physics courses and nearly half of the second year courses. Then, one day near midterm, his Warp Theory professor asked to see him after class.

"Cadet Chekov," he'd said, "I have a student who is in desperate need of a tutor." Chekov said no, citing his heavy course load, but then the professor said two words that changed his mind. "She's Russian." He couldn't resist. She was someone he could speak to in his native tongue, someone who needed his help. She was polite and charming, the kind of girl he'd take home to Mama if he'd only been four years older and a little less awkward, but hers was a mischievous soul.

"What a disaster!" He sighed, burying his head under his pillow. Then, just when he'd started to think about the bottle of vodka in the cabinet, the door chime rang. "Who is it?"

"Irina. We were going to have dinner?"

Pavel sighed, sat up, and straightened the wrinkles in his shirt as he walked toward the door, muttering to himself. "Trouble. She is nothing but trouble." He opened the door, forcing a smile. "Please, come in. I am sorry I did not have time to clean up. I did not expect you so soon."

"The rest of us are still in Sickbay, but I wanted to see you, so the doctor let me go early. He said I was 'the picture of health.'" Her cat's grin spread across her face and Chekov reminded himself to not thank McCoy for this later. "He is very charming, this doctor, when he is not angry. He would be happier, I think, if he had a simpler life. Where is your friend?"

"Hikaru is, eh, maybe seeing to his plants in the arboretum, I don't know. I am certain he will return soon." He wished Sulu would return soon, prayed for it, but he was trapped. "Something to drink?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even, showing no fear or weakness. Speaking in Russian was like relaxing a muscle, like breathing. He didn't have to think about pronunciation or the meanings of words and he could say exactly what he meant. There were a few things he'd saved up over the years to say to her and they were better said in the language they shared.

"Yes, please." Chekov poured two shots and handed one glittering carnelian glass to her, downing his own in one gulp and then sucking in a sharp breath once he'd swallowed. Vodka would make this easier. "Do you remember those long afternoons we had in the grass with your physics books? I could not tear you away from your theories and equations, but..." She touched his cheek, "We had fun, did we not?"

He shook his head, "Ai, Irina - I was thirteen. I did not know better. I- I could have been thrown out of the Academy for what we did!"

"But we had such fun! Remember the time we sneaked into the Stellar Cartography lab after hours and I showed you Tai Chi? You were brilliant. You should have taken that class with me." Her bottom lip stuck out in a sultry pout and even though he thought of her as possibly the sexiest woman he'd seen in all his travels, she wasn't worth losing the man he loved. "I missed you. You should have come with me."

"Why did you leave? You were a _scientist_ , Irina, like me - a scientist. You loved chemistry and I had such hopes that I could help you do better in your classes and we could see the galaxy together. Now look at you. What are you now?" He poured another shot and put the bottle away. Two would be enough, three was too much. Shaking his head in exasperation and disappointment, he said, "You are a gypsy, a wanderer. You do not know where you are going or how you will survive and you are lucky we found you. You were headed for Romulan space, you know."

"We were headed for Eden." She moved closer and he felt a prickling in his skin like static, "Look at you, stuck in this ship. I'm sad for you, Pasha."

"Why?" He stepped away and sat in one of the small desk chairs, hoping to put a little distance between them. "I am happy here. I am doing what I love with people who are like family to me."

"I don't understand. A loving family would not make you wear these clothes or make you live in a place without sunshine." She scoffed, "What kind of love is that? Come with me, Pasha. I will show you a better way, a simpler way."

"No, I like it here." He shook his head, "I love it here. Why would I leave someone I love?"

She cocked her head to one side, "What someone?"

"What?"

"Who is the someone you love?" She was scheming, he could tell. She had that look.

"I said 'something that I love.' You are not even listening to me." He looked at the cabinet where the bottle of vodka was stored, regretting having put it away.

"No, you said 'someone,' Pasha - who is she?"

"Hikaru." He hoped she'd back off if she knew and she did look surprised. _Maybe she will leave now_ , he thought. "I am in love with Hikaru."

"A boy, Pasha?" She moved closer to him, "But you are such a handsome young man. You could have any girl you want." She touched his knee and he felt his face flush. "Any girl at all. You were so young before and I could not do this." Her hand moved up his thigh and his body reacted before he could think it away. "But now... Maybe you have not found the _right_ girl. I can help you find true happiness and you can help us find Eden." She straddled his lap and he swallowed hard, wanting and not wanting to push her away, and as her bare legs wrapped around him, he could only think _Hikaru, Hikaru, Hikaru!_ Her face moved closer to his and that prickly static feeling returned. "You like this, Pasha. You want me."

"No, Irina, please don't." She wrapped her mouth around his and just as he grabbed her arms to push her away, the door opened and there was Hikaru, looking angry and hurt. He pushed her off so that she landed on her behind, too angry even to curse at her, he left her on the floor and chased after Sulu. "Please, Hikashka, it is not what you think!"

"I think you were kissing her."

He grabbed Sulu's arm and pleaded, " _She_ was kissing _me_ , but I did not want to! Please, believe me!"

Sulu scoffed and pulled his arm away just as Irina emerged from their quarters and stomped after them, shouting in Russian. "You _pig!_ How _dare_ you treat me like that, throwing me to the floor like... like... a common whore! You son of a bitch!"

Every time he'd said no to her and then given in to her whims came back to him in that moment. "If you acted like a lady, I would treat you like one! What makes you think you know what I want? When have you ever known what I want?"

"Your dick certainly knew what it wanted." Both gesticulated wildly as Sulu watched, mouth open in disbelief or shock. "Too bad your cracked-up little brain didn't agree. Some genius you are!"

"I am smart enough to figure out when I am being used, Irina, and I am through with you. Do you hear? Through! In the Academy, I was too young to know better, but now I have realized that you are just a filthy schemer!" He pulled at his hair, "Are you stupid? Did you not notice there was one bed in my room? What part of 'I am in love with Hikaru' was unclear?"

"Wait, what?" Upon hearing his name, Sulu tried to interrupt, but Chekov's momentum was too great.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? I am in love with Hikaru and we are having lots of filthy sex together in the room that we share and I will not give him up for anyone, especially a dirty scheming half-naked gypsy slut like you!" He could have only said this in Russian and was relieved to tell her exactly what he thought of her in words he didn't have to think about.

Irina's face grew so red that it was almost purple, "What would your mother think of this?"

"You know what my mother thinks? She likes him." Chekov was beginning to feel a modicum of triumph. "Papa, too. At least he has a job and a future, unlike the unemployed manwhore you came here with. He obviously-" He caught her hand before she could deliver a slap to his cheek. She was ready to scream and he tightened his jaw, speaking through his teeth. "You are a spoiled brat, and I am _not_ your toy to play with."

"Soooo," The Captain's voice cut through the haze of anger and Chekov snapped to attention, releasing Irina's arm. "Everything alright here, Ensign?"

He took half a second to switch back to English. "Yes, sir," he lied. Everything was _not_ alright.

"I believe you both have a report to write, so if you don't mind, I'm going to see if Miss Galliulin would like the Captain's tour of the ship." He held his elbow out for her to take and put on his famous crooked smile that could charm the scales off a snake. After a few deep breaths, she composed herself, her expression returning to that very same scheming grin she'd tried to use before. She took the bait, an amateur at the elbow of a professional, unaware that she'd been snared by _the_ Captain James T. Kirk. "Would you like to see the observation deck? We'll be passing a nebula soon - you'll never see anything like it again... Uh, Chekov, Sulu, I want that report at 0800 sharp. As you were."

"Aye sir," they both acknowledged, in awe of their Captain's ability to diffuse a tense situation.

"What," Sulu finally said after Kirk and Irina rounded the corner, "the Hell was that? You mind telling me what just happened? Why was she so pissed at you?"

"I, eh... was not very gentlemanly to her. I pushed her from me and she fell on her dignity. I told her I was in love with you and that she was a..." He tried to think about how to translate what he'd said to her, but couldn't think of the words, "something like a dirty 'hippie' like you said and a, uh, how to say it? There is no nice way..." He thought for a moment, trying to come up with the most accurate word to describe her, "like a whore, but not for money."

"Pavel!" Chekov just shrugged, "I can't believe you'd say a thing like that! C'mon, we can finish this in our quarters."

They walked the short distance back to their room and sat in silence for a few moments. "She is trouble, 'Kasha, like I said."

"There's an understatement. You've been weird ever since she stepped foot on the Enterprise." He didn't sound angry and for that, Chekov was glad. He didn't sound happy, either, but not angry was at least a start.

Chekov sighed, determined to tell the whole truth, "Irina tries to get me to do things for her, like she did in the Academy, and she tries to change things about me. I do not wish to be changed."

"If this is about the Judo..."

"Nyet, Zaichik." He shook his head, "I like doing this with you in the mornings. It is not that. I cannot be like her, like hippies, but that is what she wants me to be. I love this, what I do with you, maybe sometimes with Mr. Scott or Lieutenant Riley, but it is better with you."

"What?!"

"Navigating, experiments with transporters, you know..." They were silent a little while longer, the hum of the ship filling the space between them. "Zaichik, I'm-"

"Tigger, I'm-" Sulu ran his hand through his hair, "You first."

"I'm sorry. I was a... _zasránets_ \- asshole." He sighed and looked at his feet, hands in his pockets.

Sulu stepped over to where Chekov leaned against the wall and touched his face. Looking into those kind brown eyes, he felt like the biggest jerk to have been so lousy to such a good man, "You know, I was kind of a 'zasranets' myself. I'm sorry, Tigger." Sulu wrapped his arms around him. "One of these days, you should teach me some words I can say in front of your parents."

Chekov smiled, "Da, Zaichik."


	14. Taiji

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chekov and Sulu kiss and make up.

_****_

"So..." Sulu kissed his more-than-a-boyfriend on the nose and brushed his pink cheek with his thumb, "There's no report to write, is there?"

Chekov smiled and returned the kiss, "Nyet."

"You still mad?"

He shook his head and the corners of his mouth turned up into a sweet, crooked smile. "I am never mad for very long, but perhaps I make an exception for Irina. You are not mad?"

"No," Sulu thought about the fight in the hallway and how he'd failed to see the truth of the matter. "My fault for not realizing what a psycho hose-beast she is."

Chekov scowled, "Sorry?"

"Screaming harpy? Lunatic bitch-monster? How about..." At this point, Chekov smiled and was nodding his head. "Wicked Witch of the East? Maybe someone will drop a house on her."

"You are absurd, Zaichik," he giggled. "That makes no sense at all! But yes, she is very wicked."

"You know, the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy Gale dropped a house on her, stole her fabulous shoes, and went to the Emerald City." Sulu held pointed a crooked finger at Chekov, squinched up his face, and in his best witches' voice said, "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" This was followed by a cackle, which sent the Ensign into a laughing fit. "What? What's so funny?" He tickled Chekov's sides and he laughed even harder.

"You are terrible!" Chekov squirmed and giggled as they flopped onto the bed, "So bad!"

"Is that so?" Sulu straddled the younger man, pinning him down. "How bad am I?"

"Very bad." Sulu leaned down and kissed him, tasting the barest trace of vodka on his lover's tongue. "I like when you are bad."

"If loving you is bad," His words were almost lost as their mouths pressed together with increasing frequency, "Baby, I don't want to be good."

Chekov laughed, "That is a terrible line. Maybe you say, ' _You_ are so bad that I will punish you.' And I will say 'Oh, please, Zaichik, do not be so harsh with me!' And then you will say, 'Yes, yes!' and I say 'No, no!' and then we have good sex."

Sulu tried his wicked witch voice again, "All in good time, my pet. All in good time."

"You are strange, 'Kasha."

Sulu kissed him quick before getting up to rifle through his stash of data tapes, "And you are culturally deprived in the ways of the 'Wiz." He found the tape, labeled with a rainbow and a pair of red shoes, "Prepare to be educated." Chekov pulled Sulu into their bed and even as the younger man wrapped himself around his lover like an affectionate kraken, drowning Sulu in a sea of kisses, Sulu maintained his grip on the data tape. "Okay, Wiz later. Make-up sex now."

"Mmm. Da. You were telling me that I am so bad." He tugged at Sulu's shirt, exposing the skin of his finely muscled abdomen.

"Oh yeah, so bad. Mm-hmm." He placed the data tape on their nightstand, pulled Chekov's shirt off and threw it in a wad to the floor before removing his own. Chekov had begun to develop muscles in his shoulder and chest and as he stretched his arms over his head, Sulu couldn't help but admire his young lover. He touched the golden pendant that nestled between Chekov's pectorals, remembering when he'd given it to him. "You look like an angel."

"Which one?" His elvish smile and mischievous eyes made him look more wicked than any witch in Oz.

Sulu reconsidered, "A fallen one."

Chekov closed his eyes as though trying to remember something, then spoke, "B'shem Adonai elohei Yisra'el, miymini Micha'el, umismoli Gavri'el, umilfanai Uri'el, ume'achorai Refa'el, ve'al roshi Shchinat ha'el." He opened his eyes and nodded once.

"What was that?" Sulu puzzled over the syllables and though one or two of the words tickled in his memory, he couldn't figure their meaning.

He concentrated for a moment, "Eh, sorry, one minute. I can translate to Russian better than English. It means 'In the name of G-d of Yisra'el, Micha'el is to the right of me, Gavri'el is to the left of me, Uri'el is to the front of me, and Refa'el is behind of me'" He shook his head, "Sorry, 'Refa'el is behind me and over my head is Sh'khinah.' I used to say it when I was little to protect from bad dreams."

"Angels?"

"Except Sh'khinah." Sulu puzzled over the unfamiliar word, trying to determine its origin. "Sh'khinah is like, maybe, part of G-d, but not an angel, understand?"

Religion wasn't something they talked about much and Chekov kept it close to his heart like a precious gem, only showing facets of it every now and then. Sulu wanted to see the whole shape of it, to understand this part of him. "Sort of."

"That's okay. She is like part of G-d that is like a mama, to keep you safe." Chekov's wicked grin spread across his face, "Maybe you do not wish to think of your Mama when we are fucking. That's okay. I will give you other things to think about." He unbuttoned Sulu's pants and pulled them down, reaching around him with long, cool fingers. Chekov tugged with lazy strokes, reaching around with the other hand to the small of Sulu's back. "Do me like before we went to Delvintown, like the Greek boys used to do."

"Yeah, okay." He took off his boots and socks and shucked his pants the rest of the way off as Chekov watched, feeling a little shiver of vulnerability at being naked when Chekov was not. He crossed his arms over his chest and assumed a commanding stance, "Strip." Chekov grinned and rushed to pull his boots off, flinging one of them toward the dresser. "Slowly."

"Aye, sir." He took the second boot off more slowly and placed it next to the bed. Socks went next and he rose to his knees, first looking down as he unbuttoned his trousers and then as blue eyes peeked up from underneath half-closed lids and long pale lashes, he unzipped. Sulu's cock twitched as he watched muscles tense and relax in Chekov's shoulders, his chest, his arms, his jaw. He maintained the façade of detachment, though his heart burned and his brain was awash with the desire to rip the rest of his lover's clothes off and to be so close to him that they were like the Taiji, dark balancing light, part of one inside the other. Chekov tucked his thumbs inside the waistband of his trousers, a triangular smirk belying feigned shyness as he pulled them down to his knees. He sat and rocked back on his hips as he pushed his pants the rest of the way down and off, letting them fall into a pile at the foot of the bed. "Your orders, sir?"

"On your back, hands behind your head." Chekov sat with his arm hooked around his knee as he fondled himself with his free hand. Sulu let a corner of his mouth turn upward, "Was I unclear?"

Chekov batted his eyes and grinned, "No, sir."

"Then get on your back." Chekov stretched out like a cat in the sun and laced his fingers behind his head, crossing his ankles as though he were relaxing on the beach. Sulu grabbed a bottle of massage oil from the nightstand and climbed into the bed, uncrossing Chekov's ankles and sitting between his now wide-spread legs. He poured a small amount of the oil into his palm and rubbed his hands together to warm it. Then, as he began to work the spice-scented stuff into Chekov's thighs, the younger man began to moan and squirm.

"Mmm, Zaichik, please!" He didn't have to specify with words, his erection, now heavy with blood, and the way his hips lifted from the bed said enough.

Sulu continued, adding more spiced oil to Chekov's thighs, "Patience, Uke." When his lover's legs were soft and slick and the sweet little wanton sounds became too much, Sulu straddled him, closing the younger man's legs with a touch and a soft-spoken command. "Close your legs." Hands still slippery from the oil, he gently grasped Chekov's warm pink erection and looked into his lover's eyes, sliding himself between those strong, pale legs.

Chekov tightened the space around Sulu's cock, "Mmmm, you are so good for me." He crossed his ankles again, making his thighs close even tighter around Sulu as he thrust forward in a metronomic rhythm. Sulu moved faster as desire urged him on, prickling his skin like the sting of a whip, and before long, slow lovemaking transitioned into fast fucking. Chekov shouted, "Dokhozhú! Dokho-aaah!-zhú!" and came, warm and sticky on their stomachs. Sulu let go of Chekov's erection and crashed down into his lover as the younger of them kissed him hard and held tight to his ass. Sulu's senses hit the height of pleasure and he came with a grunt between Chekov's legs.

They stayed there, kissing, sticky, and sweaty for a long minute, eventually rolling to their sides, Sulu's hand on Chekov's cheek and Chekov's ankle crossed over Sulu's. Once again, Sulu thought of the Taiji and smiled. Never had he thought that the words of his sensei would follow him into his bed, "Balance, Hikaru. See the Taiji? That means balance, light and dark, yin and yang. That is the foundation of your practice and of all things. If those plants you love so much do not have the proper balance of sun and water, shade and dry, they will shrivel up and die. So it is with all things." Sulu nuzzled and kissed his lover once more, "I love you so much, Uke."

"Ja teb'a l'ubl'u, Zaichik moi. Davay pozhenimsya? Ja dostanu tebe zezd'i s' nebedz. Hey, let's watch the movie!" Sulu knew the first part as "I love you, my bunny rabbit," he'd heard it often enough, but the rest was a mystery. It didn't matter. He said it with such a sweet smile that it was certainly something wonderfully schmoopy.

"Yeah, put it in!" Chekov wiped himself off with a pair of discarded underwear as Sulu went to get a wet rag. When they were reasonably clean, they snuggled up under the covers as the movie played. The MGM lion roared three times and made a gruff kind of sound before the image faded and cut to the opening credits and then to a pigtailed young woman in a checkered dress.

"What is wrong with the display?" Chekov complained.

"Nothing, it's supposed to look like that. Captain says that this part was filmed in color and that Kansas really looks like that, but I couldn't say. I've never been to Kansas." Chekov nodded and Sulu buried his nose into the damp sandy curls, breathing in the sharp scent of his lover's sweat and kissing his head. "Now, shh. Watch." As the movie played, Chekov watched with curious interest, the same expression that so often settled into his face when they came upon new stars. Then the line came and Sulu couldn't help himself, "Elmira Gulch! For twenty-three years, I've been waiting to give you a piece of my mind! And now? ...Well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!"

"I would say it," Chekov remarked, "I would tell her to get out of my house or I will get my phaser!"

Sulu laughed, "You're not a Christian woman."

"No on both accounts, and neither are you. Ai! No! No! No! Why are they taking her dog? This is a terrible movie!" He gestured wildly at the screen.

"Just watch, okay?" Chekov settled in again as Sulu twisted a curl around his finger. The best part, Sulu had decided, was watching him watch it for the first time. He laughed at the ancient jokes and cursed at Professor Marvel.

"What the Hell? He is a liar!" He worried about the twister, was relieved when the girl awoke, and when the film switched to Technicolor, he was genuinely surprised. "Bozhe moy! Look at that!" Sulu sang along with the munchkins, which made Chekov grin and even giggle when they got to the part with the coroner. "Oh! This is the witch! I understand now. Maybe I will get long socks and red shoes for Irina." Every part of the movie elicited some kind of response across the range of human emotion and if there was such a thing as the opposite of a Vulcan, Sulu decided that his Pavel was it.

The ending credits rolled and Sulu gave him a soft peck on the lips. "So, what did you think?"

"I liked it!"

"Yeah?" Their fight was long forgotten now, and he felt more like himself again. "Now, watch this. Computer, play _Dark Side of the Rainbow_." The movie started again, but instead of the cheezy orchestration, there was the faint sound of a heartbeat that grew progressively louder, the ticking of a clock, and then a wailing scream before the music began. The best album in the Universe, dark and delirious, balanced what might be one of the best films of all time, sweet and fanciful.

Later that evening, as Chekov slept, Sulu composed a letter to his old teacher.

Sensei Dia Jing,

I know it's been a long time, but I wanted to thank you for everything. The dojo was like a second home to me and you were like my badass favorite aunt or something. I've been keeping up my practice, so maybe one of these days I'll beat you in a sparring session, but I sincerely doubt it. I've been teaching my boyfriend and sometimes I hear things come out of my mouth that you always used to say to me. I can still hear you yelling "Shung!" to get me to relax.

I want you to know that it's not the fighting I'm grateful for, though it did come in handy and I should probably also thank Mrs. O'Malley for the fencing lessons. It's all the other stuff that I wanted to thank you for - patience, balance, respect, all the stuff that really matters. Anyway, I just wanted say thank you and let you know that I haven't forgotten you.

Be well,  
-Hikaru

To his surprise, a reply came back within a few minutes.

Courageous Little Mouse,

So happy to hear from you! I have much business now and I have to tell people to go somewhere else. There is not enough time and I am getting very old. But I make time for your sisters. Kiko has no interest, but Hana is becoming better than you. She will be a good teacher one day. Unlike you, she is learning the Chinese forms, which are better. You were very stubborn. Always Judo with you! Maybe you will wise-up and learn like your sister. She tells me all about your boyfriend. If he is so smart, he will ask to learn Chinese forms.

Tell me when you are getting married, okay?

Even if you don't learn the Chinese forms, you know the important things and this makes me very very glad that you are my student.

Zai Jian,  
-Dia Jing


	15. The Spaces Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under orders from Starfleet, Chekov searches for Eden.

Chekov shook his head in disbelief. He'd said it out loud - in Russian, but out loud and he couldn't believe himself. He pushed the thought away as he reported to the Captain's ready room, ready for whatever task awaited him. "Yes, sir?"

"I just got word from Starfleet Command," Kirk was visibly frustrated as he tapped the stylus of his PADD on the polymer surface of the table. "We're to help Dr. Sevrin's people find Eden and take them there. I've spoken to Dr. Sevrin and there's very little information to go on, but if anyone can extrapolate a location from this," he handed a PADD to Chekov and it was full, not of star charts and coordinates, but stories, "it's you. You're to work closely with our guests and chart the most probable location."

Chekov's shoulders drooped, "Aye, sir."

"Hey," Kirk put the stylus back into it's slot and leaned forward onto his elbows, "I don't like it any more than you do, but orders are orders and these come straight from the top. Relations with theCatullans are tenuous and with the Ambassador's son aboard, we've got to be careful."

"Yes, sir. Permission to speak freely, sir?" Chekov knitted his brow and pursed his lips.

"Of course."

"Irina..."

If Irina's grin was that of a cat's, the Captain smiled like a lion. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her."

Stellar cartography was a wide, round room, two decks directly below the bridge, though only about half the diameter. The walls and the domed ceiling were painted black and the floor was covered in black hexagonal polymer tiles. Seven tall glass panels lined the walls, projecting stars or displaying images of planets or nebulae. Chekov stepped through both doors, the second opening a half second after the first had closed to keep the lab dark. He set down his PADD and leaned against the outside edge of the semicircular desk in the center of the room. "Computer, display stars relative to current location." The lights slowly darkened and the room seemed to fade away as stars began to appear all around him. This place was a temple to him, better than the cramped little all-purpose chapel, because when he thought of the King of the Universe, this dark little room filled with stars reminded him of the vastness of the Eternal more than anything else. He considered saying a prayer, but turned to his work instead, scrolling through pages and pages of badly translated prose until he came to the part about Eden. The original had been written in the native tongue of Dr. Sevrin nearly a thousand years ago, young in comparison to his own holy book, but Chekov liked to think that age was less important than content. Maybe there was something to this "Eden." After all, hadn't Adam and Eve been cast out from there long ago? "Heh. If Eden is somewhere out there and that is where Adam and Eve came from, then that would mean that-" The door opened and he finished the thought before he looked to see who had entered, "Jews are aliens. Which would explain some things..." Chekov grinned at himself, feeling a little silly.

"Talking to yourself again?" The voice was Sulu's, warm and even as usual.

"Sorry, Hikaru," Chekov rubbed his eyes, suddenly weary with the impossible task ahead of him, "The Captain wishes for me to find this 'Eden' of theirs and I do not know where to start. Why are you here? Don't you have a shift at the helm?"

"Do you want me to leave?" The glow from the projected stars illuminated their faces in soft blue light.

Chekov leaned in for a sweet, slow kiss, "No, Zaichik. Stay," he then caught Sulu's fingers in his own, "if you can."

"Yeah, I can." Sulu leaned in to look at the PADD, "So, these are religious texts of some kind?"

They were shoulder-to-shoulder now, any semblance of personal space nonexistent between them. "I think so. They are stories, myths maybe. I have not had time to read any of them."

"Maybe we should start at the planet where these stories originate." Sulu's brow was furrowed and his eyes serious as Chekov scrolled through the pages, skimming for clues. Chekov kissed his cheek and Sulu's "working face" softened a little.

"Of course. You are correct. Computer, display stars relative to Tiburon." They worked for hours, searching for key words in the text Kirk had given them and attempting to cross-reference with information from the computer's data banks. Chekov tugged at his hair, frustrated, "I will never find this 'Eden' of theirs. It does not exist!"

"We'll find it. We've narrowed it down to what, a thousand systems?" He kissed Chekov's cheek and smiled, "That's not so much. I think our shift must be almost over by now and we missed lunch, so we should get something to eat. We can pick this up again tomorrow and I can help you."

Chekov had that wispy, thin feeling that was the curse of the high metabolism and realized that Sulu was right. But there was one more thing to show him before they left, "Just a few more minutes?"

"You say that, but we'll be here another three hours. C'mon." Sulu tugged at his elbow, "You can't run a starship without dilithium."

"Yes, you can. Impulse drives function using fusion reactions and there is something I wanted to show you. It will not take long."

Sulu sighed and then nodded, "Fine, but I don't want to miss dinner, too."

"We will not miss dinner." Chekov set down the PADD and then lay on the floor, patting the spot next to him. "Come." Sulu lay down, his hands between his head and the hard tile floor. Chekov snuggled closer, using Sulu's left shoulder for a pillow, "Computer, save current search under Chekov: Eden search Alpha." The computer responded with a chirrup. "Display stars relative to Earth." The blue lights shifted and moved through the room before settling in their right places. "Computer, display stars as seen in Obninsk night sky, stardate 2241.161."

"Your birthday." Sulu remarked.

"Da. These are the stars under which I was born. These are my stars." Sulu shifted a little, placing his right hand on Chekov's stomach. "I used to lay on the grass with Papa and he would tell me stories. Computer, display stars as seen in Obninsk night sky, stardate 2248.220." The little blue lights shifted a little, but the constellations were still clearly visible. "When I was seven, I told Papa that one day I would know all of their names and that we would have to make up new stories. Computer, display stars relative to current location and current stardate. These stars I share with you. I do not know them like I know the stars in Obninsk, but when I see Papa again, I will not have to make up stories to tell. There is Theta 957 and over there is where we destroyed two Klingon vessels. We were..." Chekov looked around and pointed to a spot behind them and near the floor, "there on my birthday and over there is where Vulcan used to be."

"Oh, Pavel," Sulu propped himself up on one elbow and kissed him, stroking Chekov's face with his free hand, "I love you so much right now."

"I love you, too, mily Hikarushka. I am glad to share my stars with you." Chekov yielded to Sulu's weight and they kissed and pressed themselves together, Sulu almost posessive in the way he held him down with effortless strength.

"I want to...um. Geez, Pavel, I don't know how to say this. I just-" He crashed down into another kiss, this one firm and slow and full of wanting. In the middle of this kiss, when Pavel felt like he was going to sink into the floor and fall through to the next deck, the door opened and two pairs of bare feet walked toward them.

One pair belonged to Adam, the poufy-haired musician, and the other belonged to Irina. Adam leaned over the desk and gave them the thumbs-up, "Right on, man. We'll come back later. C'mon Irina, let's get a taste of what Herbert's got to eat and leave these two love-monkeys alone."

Irina's eyes widened and her mouth had dropped completely open. "But-" she protested, but Adam had already dragged her toward the door.

Once the door closed again, they both snickered and then broke into laughter that echoed through the dark room. They tried to compose themselves, but only started laughing again after a few seconds. "Did you see her face?" Chekov did his best imitation of her surprise, "Oh no, he is kissing boys!"

"I was too busy looking at yours." He landed a peck on Chekov's nose and rolled over onto his side. "So... dinner?"

"You were saying something before. Tell me what it is."

Sulu dropped his gaze and shook his head, a boy caught in the act of being romantic, "I don't even know." He stood up and offered his hand to Chekov, "Let's go get something from the mess, I'm starved."

"Alright, Zaichik. We will continue this later, I think." He wasn't specific, but didn't have to be.

"Yeah, okay."

The mess hall was crowded as usual and once they received their trays, something resembling spaghetti this time, Adam waved them over from the corner where their group sat eating and laughing. Notably absent were Dr. Sevrin and Irina. "C'mon over, love-monkeys! Plenty of room for a pair like you." They looked at each other, shrugged, and proceeded to the table full of hippies. Adam put his arm around Chekov, "Caught these two in flagrante as they say. Hey, man, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, certainly." Chekov was being polite but sincere and without Irina there, he felt much more at ease.

"How come you wear Herbert's uniforms, follow Herbert's rules? Why don't you come with us to Eden?" He took a bite of bread and chewed happily on it as he waited for an answer.

"I like space." Adam leaned in like a child at storytime and Chekov tried to elaborate, "From the time I was a boy, I have wanted to know the stars. I joined Starfleet because then I could see stars no one had ever seen before."

Adam nodded, "Right on, man, but you gotta feed your soul, too."

Chekov chuckled nervously, "It is not easy sometimes, but I find a way."

"How do you do it?" The purple-haired ambassador's son asked, his attention fixed on Chekov.

"Eh...It is difficult to explain." He stuffed a bite of spaghetti into his mouth to give himself a moment to gather his thoughts, "No. I do not know how to say it. I am not a Rabbi and maybe the things I say are blasphemies."

"Do not seek truth outside yourself." The voice was Sulu's and every pair of eyes at the table turned toward him as he took a bite. He swallowed, looking a bit surprised, "I don't know, something my grandmother says. I think it's from a story about how the Buddha rejected authority. I don't remember how it goes, but it's something about how you're your own teacher. Doesn't Rabbi mean 'teacher?'"

"That's deep, man." Adam nodded and the rest of the hippies followed suit, "I knew you two were alright. So tell us what's on your mind, little Rabbi."

Chekov hesitated, but made an attempt to explain as he stared at his plate, hoping he didn't sound stupid or superstitious or worse. "I think that G-d, the King of the Universe, is in the stars, in the spaces between, like the spaces between words in the Torah. I look for G-d always in the equations that describe these spaces." He shook his head and poked at his food, "I do not know if this is right. I am not a Rabbi and I do not know about these things."

"Whoa." Adam's eyes were wide and the Catullan's mouth hung open, "I think you broke Tongo's brain."


	16. No Showers in Eden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> End of the Hippie Saga. Irina gets her just desserts and Sulu is left with something to think about.

Kirk reviewed the information on the PADD, the lines of his face constricted and serious. "Are you sure about this, Ensign?"

"Yessir." It was a stupid question to ask the boy-genius navigator who knew the stars better than most people knew their own planet, but if there had been any doubt at all in his calculations, they could pursue other options. "The system indicated in the text is five lightyears inside Romulan territory."

"Do they know?"

"No, sir. I came here as soon as I made the discovery."

He'd commend Chekov in the official report, not only for his efficiency and skill, but also for going above and beyond what was required of him in maintaining security protocols. "Good job, Ensign. You're dismissed." Chekov turned and left and when Kirk was alone in his ready room, he cursed. "Fffuuuuck! I hate everyone." He closed his eyes and reviewed possible actions and consequences, connected like the threads of a spider's web, and he searched for the path that wouldn't end in death or court-martial.

\---

"Hey, little Rabbi!" Adam ran to catch up to Chekov, a blissful smile spread across his face. "I heard you found Eden."

Chekov's heart nearly stopped. He didn't want to lie, but this information was too sensitive to simply spill out to anyone who asked. "It is a _possible_ location, but there is still much work to be done before we can know for certain."

"Right on. You'll let us know, right?"

"Yes, of course." His orders had been to treat them as guests, to be polite and accommodating, and even though Adam's apparent lack of personal space made him a bit uncomfortable, he was otherwise inoffensive.

"I was talking to Tongo and Phyllis and Mavis, and we decided we like you. You're pretty deep for a dude in Herbert's clothes. We were thinking about what your main squeeze said, about being your own teacher, and we got to talking about things and what you said and then Mavis said something about the bathrooms here and man, I can be a farmer anywhere."

Chekov stopped and scratched his head, "I do not follow you."

"Okay, it's like this:" Adam's seemingly permanent smile straightened and the man looked serious for the first time since they'd come aboard the _Enterprise_. "We got to thinking and we decided that Dr. Sevrin's got more rules than Herbert. I mean, Mavig said she had her first real shower in like, _months_ and said it was the best thing in the universe. There ain't no showers in Eden, man." Adam looked around as though hoping not to get caught doing something unauthorized. "This is like, _blasphemy_ if you were talking to Dr. Sevrin, but the whole point of being free is that you can do what you feel, right?" Chekov nodded, "And if Mavig wants a shower instead of bathing in a river or something, that's cool, too, right?" Chekov agreed with this as well and internally hoped that the entire group would decide to adopt the practice of regular bathing. "Phyllis and I, we just want to live the simple life with our hands in the dirt, y'know? And Tongo, he just wants to get away from his dad. His dad is, like, a _real Herbert_ , if you know what I mean."

Chekov did not, entirely, but could guess. "So, why speak to me of this?"

"Because you've got it going on, man. You and your man are like, _in Herbert's world,_ but you're still free in your minds, y'know?" Adam held his hands up in a way that framed his poufy hair. It was almost comical but for the man's sincerity. "We just want to know how you do it."

"I-" Nobody had ever asked him anything like this before and he'd never really stopped to think about it. His entire life had moved very quickly from one thing to another. He was always running, always moving, and whenever there was a crossroads, he just picked the path that seemed right at the time, trusting G-d and his mother, but most of all, his sense of direction. It was all faith, really, but he didn't know how to properly express this. "I don't know what to say. I simply go to where feels right - like navigating. There are many paths to any given point in space and I do not always have complete charts, so I must use the information I have and then decide the way to go."

"But how do you know you're going the right way?"

Chekov exhaled slowly and thought about it. This was a big question and his only answer wasn't very good, "Sometimes... I do not know." Admitting to that hadn't been easy, but it was the biggest truth he had.

"Thanks, man." Adam squeezed him into a hug and then walked way. When he'd disappeared down a corridor, Chekov shook off the whole experience and continued walking back to his quarters.

\---

He'd told them "no," stated his reasons, and fully expected for the admiralcy to have their heads stuck fully up their own asses. He was not disappointed. His orders were to deliver Dr. Sevrin and his followers to Eden, whatever it takes. They risked war with the Romulan Empire for the whim of an ambassador's son and for the good of everyone involved, he desperately searched for a better way. What he hadn't expected was what he'd later refer to as the "Hippie Rebellion" or the fact that Lieutenant Sulu and Ensign Chekov were _literally_ right in the middle of it.

"This is what we wanted - Eden. You, Tongo, you wanted it more than any of us." Dr. Sevrin stood on the ramp leading in to the Galileo with a barefoot Irina. They both looked angry, Irina with her arms crossed and her jaw tight and Dr. Sevrin looking like a dog about to bite.

"No, man," Adam stood at the front, relaxed and groovy as usual but with defiance strung tight over him like the strings of his instrument. "That's what _you_ wanted. We wanted a better way and I gotta tell you, starting a war ain't it. I'm not going to stop you, but I'm not going with you. Tongo's going home. He says he can do more good there than out here."

"This is _your_ fault!" Irina screamed at Chekov, "You stupid boy! You sabotaged this to get back at me and now look what you've done! You've ruined everything, you- you- You _cossack_!"

"This is not about you, Irina." Chekov maintained his calm, but just barely, "Not everything is about you."

"Is there going to be a problem?" Kirk interjected.

"No sir," Sulu responded, "But it seems we'll only be taking two passengers. The rest of them have decided to stay on the _Enterprise_."

Kirk's orders had been based on the assumption that Tongo Rad, the Catullan ambassador's son, wanted to go to Eden. With that no longer being the case, he improvised. "We're not going." One of the many secrets to a successful command is to act like all of your bullshit is deliberate, so Kirk instituted stall tactic number five, "Lieutenant, Ensign, escort them back to their quarters."

"Aye, sir."

Dr. Sevrin was taken to Starbase 84 where he was arrested for the theft of the Aurora and deported to his home planet. Mavig Downey was given a few credits and a ticket to whereever she'd like to go within Federation space. She'd heard that the Hoobishan Baths on Trill were very nice and pondered a career in massage therapy. Tongo Rad went home, much to his father's delight and subsequent dismay and Irina went back to St. Petersburg where her father was kind enough to land her a job as a secretary in the administrative offices of the university. Adam and Phyllis still wanted to live the dream of a simple life, so the _Enterprise_ made her way back to Theta 957 where they were received with open arms.

"Pavel!" Elle ran toward them, her arms open to crush them in a hug, "-and Hikaru do Sato! So good to see the both of you again. I see you are not wearing your wedding bracelets yet."

"Not yet," Pavel laughed nervously.

Sulu changed the subject, "We picked these two up in our travels. This is Adam do Jack and Phyllis di Martha. They don't know much about farming, but we thought you might be willing to take them in."

"Of course! We can always use more hands," She hugged Sulu as well and looked him over. "You'll make a good husband for Pavel. You take care of people and there is no doubt in my mind that you'll take care of him for as long as you live." Sulu returned the hug and promised to try. After staying long enough to make sure Adam and Phyllis were settled and to catch up on town gossip, they made their excuses and left. As they beamed up out of sight of the village, Sulu could not help but think that Elle had spoken as though their marriage was as inevitable as the sunrise. The more he thought about it, the more the idea of marrying Chekov grew on him.


End file.
